The Beginning of the Daughter of the Sun
by LadyCeruleanBlue
Summary: Fire. What is this word, exactly? The phenomenon of combustion manifested in light, flame, and heat. One of the four elements of the world. Burning passion. Liveliness of imagination. Fuel in a state of combustion. A destructive burning. Fire.
1. Daughter of the Commander

**Welcome one and all to The Daughter of the Sun, also known as DotS! This story is featured around Emiko, a girl who is suddenly dumped in the lap of a Prince we all know and love. Fleeing from a father who only cares about his career, she must gain courage to stand up for herself on a ship full of men, and a man she may end up falling for.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender. All hail Bryke...and Viacom!**

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**Daughter of the Commander**

He may have been an evil man, but he was still my father. He was the man who taught me how to ride my first kimodo-rhino. He was the man who loved all three of his children equally. Well...he _had_ loved all of them. I was still debating on the love he felt for me. And even though he had captured me again, he still let me have some freedom. Was "freedom" considered love? I couldn't leave out of my own free will, obviously. And my room did have bars over the windows.

I wasn't the favorite child. No, that was reserved for the eldest two children. I, on the other hand, was the one who never did anything right. I was the one who had hurt him the most, disappointed him the most. Nothing I did was good enough for him.

Apparently the tea I made was sufficient, though, because he was drinking it. He wasn't talking to me, but he wasn't glaring, either. Actually, he looked rather peaceful at the moment, staring out through the window beside us, at the view of the town. It wasn't the best view in the world, though.

The small, disgusting harbor I was being held prisoner at was a place that the black market called a haven. The factories on the outskirts of town made the sky a hazy grey, blocking the sunlight and leaving me cold. I felt as if the world would never be happy again. And, while I was under my father's care, technically I never would be.

"What time will you be home from work?" I asked softly before taking a sip of my ginseng tea.

"Do you really care?" he snapped, as if my words had interrupted a play instead of the horrible scenery outside.

I sighed and sat down the cup, putting my hands in my lap and looking around the small, make-shift kitchen. "I was just trying to make conversation."

My father sighed as well and picked up a large hand, rubbing his face. I realized at that moment that I hadn't gotten my looks from him, only his thick hair, even though mine was black and his was brown. My siblings looked more like him than I did. "I know. I work until midnight. Will you be making rounds with the Captain?"

Ugh. Isamu. "Of course." Anything to get out of this stuffy, make-shift house.

I was waiting for him to chastise me about the wiles of men, or for the regular lecture about not trying to escape. But instead, he said, "He's a good man, Emiko."

This was when I looked up, and I noticed that he was looking at me with those big topaz eyes. I couldn't help but wonder if that was the reason my mother fell in love with him, because with that look, he actually seemed…human. His hair obviously hadn't been receding then, and the sideburns hadn't been as prominent. He also hadn't been riding on the promotion of "Admiral."

Back then, he'd still loved me. Apparently enough so now as well to mention the fact that Isamu was a good man, and single.

"I know he is," I said, feeling my face heat up. I knew what was coming next, and I didn't know if it made me embarrassed or angry.

"Your birthday. Its coming up soon, isn't it?"

I clutched my tea cup tighter in my hands. "I'll be sixteen."

"Old enough to marry."

I had to take a deep, shaky breath before I could talk to him without yelling. "I don't want to get married."

"It isn't your choice." He stood up before I could protest, looking at the position of the sun in the hazy sky. "I have to get to work. Apparently a new ship has arrived in the harbor and it doesn't have docking permits."

"Your job is so glamorous," I mumbled, my voice dripping sarcasm.

"It keeps a roof over your head," he snapped, moving to the door in long, angry strides. "I expect you to pay attention to anything that Isamu says towards you. If he hints towards anything, I would like to know."

"He's barely ever said a word to me, let alone hinted at anything. And besides, I don't want to be married! You've always given me whatever I've wanted, why can't it be this way now?"

He sighed and put his hand on the doorknob. "Because I'm not always going to be here."

That answer silenced me, so I looked away and tried not to think about it. Part of me, the wild, uncultured part that had grown in the wilds of the Earth Kingdom, was happy to hear that. But the part that was still his daughter didn't want to think of it.

He was about to leave when he stopped in the doorway. "I've left something for you in the family room. I hope that it helps you to get used to being here."

My father then left without another word. I didn't bother cleaning up the kitchen, as I knew that he wouldn't be happier with me whether I did it or not. I walked through the small, dingy house to see the small "something" that he had left for me sitting on the couch in the front room.

The liuqin was hand-crafted, with a slim, pear-shaped body and a medium-length neck. A hand-woven strap was around the neck, and I wondered at that moment if my father didn't care more than her really tried to show.

**o~o~o**

"…and by year's end, the Earth Kingdom will be in our grasp, allowing us to win this war." I felt simply..._awful_. He'd tried to handle me, but I just couldn't stay cooped up. I had to stay around until he was finished, one last time, and then I couldn't see him anymore. It just hurt to much.

_Go get him, talk to him, tell him you love him, _my heart said, but my brain knew better. He didn't love me anymore. He just wanted his perfect little world, and that didn't include me. It was better to be cautious, anyways, even if my wild side wanted to barge in wrap my arms around him.

I sighed and relaxed, my body tense from running through the shadows of the seedy port. The bars over my windows melted just fine. His guards had never even seen me leaving—or coming, for that matter.

A black-haired man—or was he a teenager?—with a high ponytail was sitting at the small tea table, his arms across his chest, a scowl on his handsome face. From his regalia, it was obvious that my father was talking to a noble.

The noble gritted his teeth and said, "If my father believes that people will follow him willingly, then he is a _fool_." His voice was middle-ranged and husky, but it wasn't like the old men who used to sit outside the old grocery store in the town I grew up in. Those men had smoked all their lives. This seemed..._natural._

My father stepped beside the man. "Being at sea for two years has done little to temper your tongue." He had always had this strange temper that, when challenged, would send his pride so high, he wouldn't accept help or defeat. I wondered if it would be his undoing one day.

"Staying here has done little to handle your aging," the noble shot back.

I smiled at that, biting my lip to keep from laughing. I instantly blushed at how rude that was, but it was funny thinking that my dad was getting old. It was true that the past few years hadn't been good on the old man. He was only in his forties, and still, the grey was starting on the sideburns.

"So how's your search for the Avatar going?" the Commander asked suddenly, ignoring the age comment and leaning over the table.

_The Avatar?_ I looked around at the Fire Nation port, which was stationed in the Earth Kingdom. Poor, Earth Kingdom peasants begged on the street corners. Highway men threatened refugees for "save traveling" through the town, only for the refugees to be mugged on the way in. _If the Avatar is back, he isn't doing a very good job so far._

The man looked at my father with no expression. "We haven't found him yet."

_Obviously._

"And you actually thought you would?" the Commander asked with a grin. "The Avatar died a hundred years ago, along with the rest of the Airbenders that the Fire Nation killed off."

The strange man—or maybe teenager, I couldn't tell—looked away, showing me a huge scar that covered his right eye and ear. I winced slightly, staring at the scar with curiosity. _How does one come to get a scar like that? And how does one think of themselves?_

I had to look away. It was a terrible thing to happen to anyone and I felt my insides begging to go to the man to try and help him in some way. Obviously I needed to find something else to concentrate on. Like the inevitable leaving and saying goodbye to my father.

Speaking of him, he continued to prod with that sadistic smile I wished had never gotten on his face. "Unless you've found some evidence that the Avatar is alive…?"

"No," the noble said quickly. "Nothing."

"If you have a drop of loyalty left, you'll tell me what you've found."

"It's like you said," the noble said, smiling slightly and shaking his head, "the Avatar vanished a long time ago."

My father frowned as the man got up and tried to leave. I shuffled over quickly so as the guy didn't run into me. But, before he could walk out the door, two guards blocked him.

"Commander Zhao," one of them greeted with a quick bow. "We questioned his crew like you ordered. They told us that he had the Avatar in custody, but let him get away."

Zhao smiled and walked up to the noble. "Now," he said slyly, leaning forwards to rub salt in the man's wounds, "how exactly did your ship become damaged?"

Suddenly, Isamu ran past me and into the tent. _Uh oh._ Good thing I'd had on the maroon cape, so I blended in perfectly with the tent. Somewhere in the black market, there was some fabric missing from a tent, about me-sized. "C-Commander Zhao!" he cried, skidding to a stop.

"Ah, Isamu, you came at exactly the right time," Zhao droned sarcastically, irate that there was a distraction. "What can I do for you, Captain?"

Isamu bent down and leaned onto his knees to catch his breath from running all the way to the tent. It had to have been, what, a mile? He was out of shape. Then again, I had gotten a side stitch about three qarters of the way through. Maybe _I _was out of shape, too!

"It…it's her," the tall, handsome soldier finally managed to get out.

Zhao snapped to attention, and the panicked look in his eyes made me wonder… _no_. _It couldn't be._ He only cared about himself. "What's wrong with her?"

The noble raised a dark, well-defined eyebrow. "Is this your girlfriend, Commander?" he asked wryly, crossing his arms. The man seemed to be an arrogant prick. I could see why my father disliked him.

Zhao sent a glare to the noble and snapped, "When you have children, I hope that they are as much trouble to you as my daughter is to me."

The man behind the teenager jumped, as did the teenager himself. That was when I got a good look at the third member of the party. He had a long, grey beard and a topknot on his head. His monkey face looked very familiar, filled with lines that spoke of laughs, smiles, and grief.

"You have a daughter?" the teenager—the noble—asked unbelievingly. "Wait, wait. The question I should ask, is, 'You were married?'" He sat back down in his chair and tried to hold in a laugh.

_This man...really! _I thought, trying to control my anger. My father was pretty high on the arrogant bastard list, but this noble had to top even Zhao.

Zhao ignored the noble, trying to wait for Isamu to catch his breath to speak. "She…she…"

"Tell me what's wrong!" Zhao yelled impatiently, beads of sweat forming on his brow.

Isamu pulled in a deep breath, then spewed out, "She got away."

"_What_?"

The noble laughed out loud. "You let a five-year-old girl get away from you?" he asked incredulously, tilting backwards in his chair and crossing his feet on the table, an arrogant smile on his strangely handsome face. _Why are all of the handsome men pigs on the inside?_

"She's twelve," Zhao snapped.

"Fifteen," Isamu corrected, standing up and shying away from Zhao's temper.

"Captain, get two battalions to search the dock," Zhao growled, straightening his armor. "I want her back in her room by tonight or else this is on your head, understood?"

Isamu straightened, the beads of sweat on his forehead this time. "Y-yes sir. Right away sir."

After Isamu left, the teenager furrowed his brow. "How old are you?" he asked finally, confusion deep-set into his voice.

Zhao turned away from him and clenched his eyes shut. Obviously he chose to ignore the question. "Once I'm out to sea, my men will permit you to go and you will be allowed to leave." I could tell when he was stressed. He always ran a hand through his hair and pinched the bridge of his nose. I instantly felt guilty for causing him pain.

That's why I was staying to say goodbye, right? _Right?_

"I'll… I'll stop you!" the noble cried angrily, standing up and yelling like a two-year-old in a temper tantrum.

Zhao just laughed in a way that made me go cold. I wasn't feeling so guilty anymore. "Stop me? Impossible!"

"Don't take me lightly!" the teen shouted back. "I will capture the Avatar before you!"

"You?" Zhao asked with an evil grin, forgetting about the stab at his heart. He was able to do that—I wasn't. "You can't compete with me. I've got hundreds of warships at my command. And you? You're just a banished prince. No home, no allies…your own father doesn't even want you."

Banished prince…? I asked myself as I leaned back onto the fabric of the tent. _I've been out of the loop for too long. Crown Prince Zuko is still at the palace, right? There isn't another prince of the Fire Nation. As far as I know, at least._

The man stood up and looked Zhao in the face. "You're wrong! When I give the Avatar to my father, he'll welcome me home with honor, and I'll return to my rightful place on the throne."

_But…but Prince Zuko is next in line for the throne. So…that man is Prince Zuko? _Well, why should it have been a surprise? I'd missed out on a bunch of news, having been away from home and on the run.

Zhao smiled with an air of a battle won. "If he really wanted you home, he would've taken you back by now. In his eyes, you are nothing."

"That's not true!" Zuko yelled.

"You have a scar to prove it."

Zuko got in Zhao's face and screamed, "Maybe you'd like one to match!" The room instantly got hotter by twenty degrees, sending a heatwave over me through the opening of the tent. "Agni Kai. Sundown."

They both backed up. All I felt was a sense of growing dread. _I think I understand how you got your scar, Zuko._

"Just fine," Zhao agreed with no emotion in his voice. "It's a shame that your father won't be here to see me humiliate you…I suppose Iroh will do."

Zhao walked out the flaps, and I backed up. Maybe…maybe I would wait to appear before him. Maybe I should wait and watch the match…? _He's still my father._

I walked away from the tent with those thoughts and found a stand where a hawk was being sold. Without showing who I was, I bought it with my father's money and set forth to writing my letter.

I knew they were worried about me.

I knew that they trusted me, even though I had lied.

The only person who had ever known my secret was a child named Pebble. She was the one who June and I had to find on my first mission—June's one hundredth mission—and also the first one we both failed.

Pebble had the help of the Freedom Fighters on her side. Apparently June had already met Jet. June and Jet had a deal that she wouldn't hunt the Freedom Fighters, but we didn't know that Pebble was one of them.

That was our first mistake.

To make things worse, the little Earthbender figured out who I was—or more like _what_ I was. My ability to wield fire seemed to fascinate her. She agreed to keep my secret, as long as she was able to study every move I'd ever learned. We became fast, if not strange, friends. _I miss you, Pebble._

I sat down in an ally and pulled out a pen and piece of paper, thinking over what I should write. Well, something was better than nothing, so I just put my pen to the paper.

_Freedom Fighters,_

_Please don't worry about me. I've escaped and am out on the road again. I'll probably take to the sea, even though I prefer not drowning on some rickety ship. It's the safest way out of the harbor. I'll contact you as soon as I'm out of the Fire Nation colonies. _

—_Emm_

**o~o~o**

I ran over to see how the battle was going, but apparently I already missed most of the fight. Climbing up the wall, I hung there, hoping to see neither of the two get hurt. I may have been a fighter, but that didn't mean that I liked violence.

I heard a voice call, "Basics, Zuko! Break his root!" It was the man I thought had looked familiar, coaching from the sidelines. I tightened my grip on the wall, locking my arms together to keep from falling and studied him.

He was in his sixties or seventies it looked like, with a pudgy belly and short, stocky legs. His beard was thinning and grey, like the hair on top of his head. From what I could see, he had the eyes of a regular Fire Nation citizen.

I decided that watching the fate of my father was more important than finding out who this man was, so I looked down and tightened my grip again. It'd been a while since I had done any strength workouts. I was getting pretty weak.

Down in the arena, I saw Zhao fire many volleys of flame, alternating between his fists. No matter how much I hated to admit it, my father was good. His only problem had ever been control. He would start a fire, but bringing it down was the hardest thing for him. He put too much energy into one single shot. While this method was powerful, it was exhausting and had many disadvantages.

Zuko blocked each, slowly being forced back. His training was shaky at best, with weak footholds as he tried to use agility to beat my father. His pale body was toned from Firebending all his life, but had he made any improvements since the moderate set? I studied all of this fighting moves, trying to pinpoint all of his techniques. Strangely, he didn't seem to have any.

On the last volley, Zhao used both hands, knocking Zuko over and sending him skidding backwards in the dirt. Zhao took a flying jump at him and landed as Zuko tried to get up, but he wasn't fast enough. Zhao fired right at him, and—

Zuko rolled out of the way just in time, and advanced towards the old man, using his feet to produce small waves of flame that rushed toward his opponent. Zhao was caught off balance and wobbled slowly backward.

My father never did have good balance.

Zuko finally laid Zhao out flat on the ground with a blast of fire. Zuko rushed up to him, prepared to deal the final blow.

Zhao knew what was going to happen. "Do it!"

My heart instantly seized and I lost my grip on the wall. My back was shocked by the sudden fall, immobilizing me for a moment. I heard the angry scream as the prince delivered a blow. My heart stopped beating until I heard my father speak. "That's it?" he asked as I scrambled to my feet, running around to the entrance of the arena. "Your father raised a coward."

_Is he not hurt_? I wondered, turning the corner. I saw Zuko turned away from my father who had a blazing hole on the ground next to his head. "Next time you get in my way, I promise I won't hold back."

My brow crinkled in confusion. Of all people, Prince Zuko should have shown the least amount of mercy. But he let Zhao go with only a warning. _This requires further investigation. _Not right then, though. I had other things that needed concentrated on.

Zuko turned his back and began to walk away. I almost screamed when my father got up and, with a howl of anger, unleashed a whip of flame at Zuko via foot. The flame was extinguished, however, as a hand closed over the foot. The old man had moved between them to stop the dishonorable attack.

My heart was doing jumping jacks in my throat, my hands over my mouth to smother a scream of disbelief and fright. Did I dare go in there after a wound to my father's pride? Did I dare try and say goodbye?

They remained frozen for a moment until the old man hurled Zhao back into the dirt with little effort. Zuko rushed to avenge the insult, but was stopped by his elder.

"No, Prince Zuko," he scolded, his voice soothing and wise. "Do not taint your victory." He turned to face Zhao with a look of disdain on his face. "So this is how the great Commander Zhao acts in defeat?" he asked, crossing his arms. "Appalling… Even in exile my nephew is more honorable than you."

_Nephew? _This man had to be General Iroh, the Dragon of the West. Why did he seem so familiar to me, then? It had to have been all the recruitment papers of him that were plastered up all over the town we'd lived in that year. Maybe that was why his face seemed comforting.

Iroh smiled and patted his stomach. "Thanks again for the tea. It was delicious." Then, they walked out and left Zhao staring after them.

I cautiously walked in, trying to dodge their line of sight. I was sure that the old man had seen me, but what harm was there in the confused look he sent my way? I was too busy walking slowly towards the slumped shoulders of my father. "Daddy?"

His back tensed, although I knew that he wouldn't leave.

Pursing his lips, he looked over his shoulder at me. "Why aren't you already gone?" When I didn't answer, he clenched his fist and turned all the way around, raising his arm.

I put my hands on his wrist and patted it, saddened at the gesture. "You wouldn't hit me, would you?" I could barely speak loud enough for myself to hear, so I wondered how he'd heard me.

"Since when do you stick around to rub it in my face?"

"Since when do you care?" I shot back incredulously, throwing my hands down. "I'm tired of running from you. I can't stay and you know why. I don't belong with the Fire Nation."

He was silent for a moment, shrugging on a shirt and leaving me feeling slightly remorseful. "So what's your plan this time? Planning on joining up with that bounty hunter again? Or how about the pirates? Ooh, that was a good one. You almost evaded me for an entire year."

"The pirates taught me more than you ever did," I said softly, crossing my arms over my chest. "And June was a good friend."

"Well what about your latest futile attempt?" he asked, buttoning the shirt. "That band of Fire-Nation-hating children?"

"The Freedom Fighters," I sighed, trying not to become irritated. I tried to tell myself that this man had loved me once. Did he still? "And they were the best friends anyone could ever have."

"Sure." Of course he didn't care. "What about that girl…Pebble, was it? I feel sorry for her."

"And why would you do that?" I asked, pinching the bridge of my nose with my index finger and thumb. Had I gotten that from him? Probably. It was one of the _only_ things I got from him.

"It's a shame what my men did to her…after all, she was only about a year younger than you, right?"

My heart stopped for a fraction of a second before my eyes narrowed and I turned to him, my body shaking with anger. "What did they do to her." It wasn't a question.

"She seemed to have suffered a casualty, last I saw. It's a real shame. They ought to keep better care of their team members."

_He's just trying to hurt you,_ my brain said, but my heart just wouldn't listen. It kept replaying that last few moments over and over—his command, my panicked breathing, her painful scream. I gave out a silent sob at what she must have gone through.

He smiled at me, putting one finger under my chin to make me look up at him. "You have no idea how much you are like me," he said softly, a strange, fatherly light in his eyes.

I felt tears coming to mine, which were much like his. Pebble, one of my best friends, was hurt because of this man. And, not only him, but me. "I will _never_ be like you."

He smirked as I turned away form him and started running out of the stadium, my liuqin hitting the backs of my legs. His voice followed on the wind, whispering, "You already are."

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**Onwards!**


	2. Captured

**Thank you to everyone who has followed me so soon in the story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender. I would have put myself into the storyline somehow if I did.**

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**Captured**

The sun was rising as I sat up from my small pallet on the floor and looked around. Nothing in my small camp had been bothered, though my fire had been kept going. I cursed myself for letting it stay lit all night.

Not only would the smoke alert anyone around me to my position, but my Chi would be messed up the rest of the day from using non-stop Firebending!

I sighed and waved the fire off, rubbing my face and letting my body soak in the sun so that I could wake up. I knew that I couldn't just sit there all day, but sitting in the sun…it was _amazing_. Being a Firebender, I was connected to the sun, and my favorite time of the day was sunrise.

Finally I stood up and quickly but silently cleaned up my campsite. Not that there was much. I had my small fireplace, which was easily dispersed, and then my pack, my instrument, my mother's sword, and my pallet. I rolled up the pallet and tied it to the side of my pack, throwing my pack on and then the instrument over it.

I stood up, stretched, and then kept going, picking edible berries along the way. Pebble and Smellerbee had been the two who'd taught me which berries weren't edible, and that the rest either tasted good or didn't. It was times like this, when I was alone in the wilderness, that I really missed them. They were my friends. I wanted them by my side.

"_Brr," the little girl's teeth chattered. Well, I wasn't so sure that I could call her little anymore. She was almost my height and more than a year and a half younger. "It sure is frosty. I wish I would've brought my saber-toothed-moose-lion pelt to keep warm."_

"_It's cold?" I asked, looking to her. She was wearing her winter gear already, and I was still in my summer equipment. "Since when? It feels just fine." The trees rustled, but I didn't feel anything._

"_Yes, it's cold!" she shouted, shivering again. "How can you _not _be cold? You Firebenders. You're all crazy."_

_I looked up to the clouds covering the sun and sighed. "…Maybe I am…" The wind blew the clouds away, and I soaked in the sunlight. The trees rustled again and the wind blew my hair out behind me._

_But the trees weren't rustling because of the wind, I soon figured out._

_Pebble's green eyes burned with rage when she saw the Fire Nation soldiers jump out of the brush, brandishing swords and ropes, one with a scroll in his hands. "Emiko, come with us. We don't want to hurt you." Isamu stood there, his handsome black head of hair pulled up into a spiffy topbun, like always. He was fit and halfway handsome, if he only didn't have to subject himself to my father's command._

_His words were barely audible. The only thing I could think or hear was, _"They're here. They've found me."

_The man that I hated for helping my father rested his sights onto Pebble. "Ah. Pebble Feng. You are under arrest by the Dai Li and the Yu Yan Archers for treason against the Fire Lord, as well as the Earth King." Isamu turned to me. "It would be wise, Emiko, if you let us take you in. I'm sure that your father would not want you to be hanging around with miscreants such as this one."_

"_Miscreant?" I wanted to know. "No, Isamu. She's my friend."_

_He shrugged his shoulders, but I could see the hurt in his eyes. "Alright. Well then, take them, men."_

_They charged just as a band of the Freedom Fighters jumped out from behind us. _

"_We've got your back!" came Smellerbee's cry. She threw herself at two men at the same time, effortlessly taking them out with a dagger to each throat._

_Longshot nodded to me and sighted down the arrow shaft lodged in his bow. It didn't even seem like he took time to aim, but his arrow hit the mark._

This isn't supposed to happen_. _

_Jet placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder when I almost collapsed to the ground. "You'll be okay," he promised me. "They won't take you again. I won't let them." He took out his hook swords and rushed Isamu with a war cry._

"_Pebble!" Sneers cried. I turned to see him jump into the midst of the soldiers and tackle the girl to the ground. When Sneers stood up to defend her, he ferociously attacked with all his might. There was one on too many, though, and he was quickly knocked to the floor with the hilt of a non-Firebender's sword. _

_And he didn't move._

_Pebble finally regained her senses, while I was still standing in the same place. She looked at Sneers and tears formed in her eyes. Her hurt turned to anger, and she, maddened at the sight of her friend—who could've been more than just that—and sent an earthquake of bedrock, dirt, the plants and animals on that dirt, and a tree that couldn't even move to get out of the way towards the man who had attacked Sneers._

_That man was taken care of, and all around me my friends were attacking the soldiers who assaulted us. It was my fault if any of them got hurt._

_A war cry escaped from my mouth, and I pulled out my mother's thin sword. The next man that came in my way was quickly decapitated, the other mortally wounded or dead. They deserve it, my heart kept telling me, but my brain was saying so many things at once that I felt ready to explode._

'_These men have families.' _

'_Don't you understand their pain?' _

'_Listen to the fire inside of you, but don't let it destroy you.' _

'_Fire is a form of life. It is energy.' _

'_**Firebending harmony**.'_

'_Firebend, Emiko, FIREBEND!'_

_I put my hands to my head and screamed, "NO!" I fell to my knees, trying to ignore the voices in my head that seemed to try to destroy me. I battled against them. Leave me **alone**…!_

_One lone voice distracted me from my agony. "Zhao, now!"_

_I never should've turned to look. _

_Zhao raised his arms up and punched forward a small ball of flame. The girl's eyes widened, as did mine, in horror. She barely had time to raise her arms before the flames hit her. _

"_PEBBLE!"_

I awoke with a jolt, only to find my clothes soaked with tears, my face swollen, sweat draining off the back of me. It was the next day, and I'd made little progress the day before as my mind was in torment. I wiped away the vial liquid using my cloak. When I pulled the cloth away, though, I saw smears of dirt, not only water.

I must've looked atrocious.

Getting up off the ground, I ignored the crick in my neck and the roar in my stomach and forced myself to keep moving. _No sense in letting the past get to you,_ my brain reminded me. _You've never let it before._

I shook my head. I had to keep moving, not sit and cry like I knew I wanted to. _Pebble, oh Pebble, you'll never know how sorry I truly am…_

Suddenly I felt the ground tremble. A small hope in my head was that Pebble _was _okay and they had sent her after me. But…wouldn't the hawk have reached them by now?

No, probably not.

But even so, it would be great to see an old friend again after what had happened. I wanted to apologize so bad that I was going to run into her arms the second I saw her. I was about to put down my hood to show her who I was, but then something happened:

A giant slab of rock was shot towards me.

I dodged out of the way, grabbing the sword I was using to hack at the underbrush. More slabs flew towards me, and I either dodged or broke them apart with the sword, leaving my arms sore and my hands stinging.

_I've got to—_

Taking time to think was the last thing I should've done. Because there was one slab that was in my blind spot. I turned to strike right when it cut deep into my side, sending me sprawling to the ground.

Clutching the wound, I looked up; my eyes fogged over, and I saw the culprits. There were about five of them, and one was advancing faster. As quick as I could without letting them see, I picked up the sword I dropped. Then, right as the Sergeant was over me, I swung my weapon upwards, slashing him across the right eye.

He clutched his face and gasped in pain. When he got his senses back, he angrily kicked me in the side.

A groan escaped my mouth, and I felt ready to puke. The fog in my eyes grew thicker and thicker until finally sensed I was flying. It was hard to tell what was up or down. Or even what was black or white. Everything was just meshing together until I couldn't make sense of anything.

**o~o~o**

I awoke to something rattling the cold, hard ground. I was in pain, though the edge of unconsciousness took part of it away. I knew that the second I woke up completely, it would hit full force, so I was tempted to go under again. But another shudder of the hard ground and a smell that could wake the dead forced me to crack open my eyes.

I was out in the sun, lying on a pallet, a small blanket covering my body. I was still wearing my cloak from when I'd run away, though my top was gone. That, and I was in unbelievable pain. At least I still had my pants.

I felt a groan coming on, but I held it back, forcing myself to open my eyes. The sun's rays washed over me, and I felt stronger, but the pain wouldn't go away unless it was treated to and medication was given to me. _I'm a prisoner of the Earth Kingdom. Like they'll give me medicine._ I let one hand move, feeling up my torso, to feel that my ribs and chest were now wrapped. _They...they treated me?_

I sat up, making sure to move slowly, allowing the wound to adjust to my movement. _Alright…I'm on a ship_, I thought, looking around. There were perhaps fifty or so men standing about on the ship's top, but I didn't recognize any of the insignias on their uniforms. They didn't look Earthen, that was for sure. The sky was bright and clear, with a spec of something out there in front of us.

I felt a presence behind me, and I looked up, seeing that a large man with thick, grey hair was standing over me. I was prepared to fight, but he leaned down and I saw that he had a kind face, with sideburns and a thick beard. He had enough hair to put in a top bun, though he was thinning towards the front, and his topaz eyes had laugh lines.

Just seeing his old face made me smile, although I wasn't sure why. "How are you, my child?"

Obviously, I was no longer in the company of Earth Kingdom soldiers. Either Iroh had someho helped me out of it, or I was one Abyss of a sleep-walker. "I've been better, to tell the truth," I rasped, finding my voice thick with gravel. I cleared my throat and tried to speak again, but he put a finger to my lips.

"I put you out in the sun to absorb energy. I see that it has worked, but you must be quiet. The crew is on edge already, and they do not need a beautiful distraction at the moment." He motioned up to the air, where the speck I'd seen was getting closer. Was that…a _beaver_ tail? "The Avatar…"

I felt wrong, as though I wasn't worthy to see the Avatar or his legendary flying bison. "The Avatar is alive!" I had figured that Zhao and Zuko were talking nonsense, trying to get into each other's heads.

"Yes."

Looking back up to Uncle and smiling like a child, I felt a surge of happiness that the world might be turned around. "That's what I thought, because—"

I was cut off by a harsh voice that cried, "Uncle! Get over here!"

Iroh smiled at me softly, leaning forwards to kiss my forehead with such tenderness that my heart clenched. "I'll be back. Now rest." He got up and moved towards the prow, where a young man with a warrior tail was standing. I guessed that the man was the Prince. He lifted his hand up to a large catapult, waiting, waiting…

"On my mark…FIRE!"

I looked up to see where the Prince was firing, and saw that the bison was much, much closer. I could barely tell, but it looked like three people were aboard the animal, one on the beaver tail. I could now tell that the underside of the bison was a pill-bug.

They dodged easily, the fireball landing a few feet from…_oh no._

A giant blockade was blocking the waters that led into the Fire Nation. Every ship was at least three times the size of the one I was on. _There's no way we will make it._

Iroh was stroking his beard, I could see that much. He turned to the Prince, his face thoughtful. "Theoretically, they cannot arrest you as we are still in the Earth Kingdom. But if you go over the border, they can do whatever they want!"

I was shocked. _We're going into Fire Nation waters? _ No! I couldn't go back there, and as far as I could ell, neither could Prince Zuko!

"Why won't he turn around?" Zuko asked as I slowly tried to stand up. None of the crew was paying attention to me, as if they'd been instructed as if to assume I wasn't there. My grunts of pain didn't mean anything to them, not that I was going to ask for help in the first place. I finally stood up, wrapping the blanket around my shoulders and using the walls of the cabin to keep myself up.

"Please Prince Zuko," Iroh begged, not noticing that I had moved, "if the Fire Nation captures you, there's nothing I can do! Please…the Avatar isn't worth it."

Zuko just looked down, ashamed, maybe, or even angry. But I know that he wasn't listening to the wise General Iroh. "Yes… yes, he is. RUN THE BLOCKADE!"

Iroh finally noticed me, and he grasped my arm, bringing me in front of him so that he could hold me up. I leaned against him, loving his old smell of smoke, tea, and miso. "Dearest heart, I told you to stay down."

I had no clue how I knew this man, or if I even knew him well enough for him to call me 'dearest heart,' but being near him made my entire body feel at peace. "I-I couldn't." '_Who are you?'_ my brain asked as he steadied me with his arm. _'How do I know you?'_ "Why are we heading into Fire Nation waters?"

The Prince turned to me and I made sure that I didn't flinch at his scar. To tell the truth, I couldn't imagine what he looked like without it. It was very..._defining._ Anyways, he was glaring at me. He took my body in once, twice, before saying, "This is my ship. If I say that we are going into Fire Nation waters, then we are. You have no say in this situation."

I only glared at his handsome face, noticing that even though he'd been out of nobility status for a while, his skin was still milky white. I meant to say something, but the putrid stench of the chemicals used on fireballs hit my nose and I glanced up into the air. I felt my eyes widening, and all I could do was point at the hundreds of fireballs coming at us, streaking through the air and leaving long ugly smudges of black smoke through the clear blue sky. The sun could barely stream through it.

"H-h-hit the d-deck!" Iroh left my side after I said this, moving to assist in the blocking of the missiles.

The fireballs hit the water next to the ship, making waves that almost drowned the crew. This ship was much, much smaller than the Fire Navy Armada ships, so we were miniscule in comparison. Most of the missiles missed, but every so often we would be hit, or the water next to the ship was hit.

Suddenly, I was tackled to the ground. My head hit the hard metal, bouncing, and my vision went blurry for a moment. My side was throbbing. Looking back over to where I had been standing, I saw that a large chunk of fireball had hit the deck and had left a large, circular dent that would've been me.

I gasped and finally got my breath back, even though something very heavy was holding me down. I glanced up to see that Zuko was on top of me. He'd saved me?

His strong thighs straddled mine, his hands on my bare arms. But he pulled his hands away as if I had burnt him. That didn't surprise me, though. Most people had that reaction when they touched my skin. Firebenders had naturally hotter temperatures than most.

I stared at his face, noticing that between his black brows was a permanent crease from glaring all the time, even though he wasn't at the moment. His nose was long, straight, and regal, and while his lips were usually pursed, they weren't at the moment and they were perfectly shaped. The top lip was thinner than the bottom, with the bottom sticking out nicely. His topaz eyes were rimmed with the longest black lashes that I'd ever seen on a man.

He was staring at me too, and I blushed at not only his scrutiny, but also my own towards him. "I'm fine, now, I can fend for myself," I said softly as he finally noticed how he was on top of me, and he fumbled around to get up. He didn't even hold out a hand to help me up. I guess I was grateful for that fact. Zuko just shook his head and got up to inspect the damage.

I shook my head and took a deep breath, doing my best to stand up without ruining my wrappings or hurting myself further.

The helmsman was doing his job as best as he could in order to dodge the missiles, and I knew that he had to have been a good helmsman because I wasn't seasick, but a missile hitting the ship was bound to happen sooner or later. A large crash made the ship groan, and then we were slowing down. The infrared I could see and feel inside the coal room diminished drastically.

"Zuko!" I cried, putting my hand on the thick steel banister of the ship. A deep rumble shook it. "The engines are damaged! The ship is going to have to stop, and your engineers will have to make repairs!" The engines erupted in fire and smoke, damaging them even more. Another groan rumbled the deck, and I had to hold onto the railing even harder.

Zuko looked me with fire and brimstone. "_We are not stopping this ship_."

After I got my balance back, I ran up to him and grabbed his arm to turn him around and face me. His handsome face almost made me hesitate. "This is _suicide_," I said softly, staring up at him with the most pleading look I could manage.

He just looked at me like I was crazy and put me away from him by a few feet. "Don't tell me how to run my ship, girl."

Obviously, I took offense to that. "I may only be a girl, but I can fend for myself. Just because you—"

He gave me an irritated sound from the bottom of his throat and held up a hand to interrupt me. "Let me direct _my_ ship _my_ way, and don't tell me that my ship is damaged when I can see it with my own eyes."

_Well then. _I turned away from him, crossing my arms over my chest, looking out onto the sea. I lost my anger quickly, biting my lip and trying to stay calm. We kept going, each second getting closer and closer to the barrier in our way. And, each second, I tried to calculate our chances of making it through:

There were none.

"This is madness," I whispered when we were minutes away from crashing. "We're on a collision course!" My stomach started to hurt and I tried to resist doubling over.

"We can make it!" was his replying yell. Again, no look towards me, nor any inclement that I was there.

Iroh suddenly stood behind me and took me into his arms, holding me against his chest with fatherly comfort. "You will have to forgive the Prince," he whispered in my ear, gently massaging my back as I took deep breaths, the pain coming in waves. "He is a little…"

"Stubborn? Mule-headed? A man?"

He paused for a moment, then answered with, "…That's a way to put it, Sunshine."

And _that _was when I knew exactly who he was. I let out a broad smile and hugged him. "Hello, Uncle."

"It took you that long to recognize me?"

"What?" I asked innocently, trying to force down my cheeky smile. "You've lost weight!"

He only chuckled at that. I turned back and looked at the blockade. We were right in front of them now, about to be crushed to pieces. In all of the ways I had pictured dying, I really didn't think about drowning. Well I did, but not by Fire Nation ships in a blockade.

Right before the ships hit us, though, I heard a sound and their engines cut off. Up on the commanding ship, my father stared down at the occupants of ours.

His eyes widened when he saw me.

I gave him a little sheepish smile, and he changed his face from shock to anger. It probably didn't help that I was only in a wrap top and some flimsy pants. He'd always had a problem with his anger. So, when he looked at Zuko, his face turned red and I could've sworn that he busted a brain cell or two.

Zuko had a questioning look on his face as he looked at me. He expected that Zhao would glare at him, not at me, and then I had both Zuko _and_ Zhao glaring at me. It wasn't a very nice feeling.

Iroh stroked his beard again, using the other hand to steady me by putting it on the small of my back.

We sailed slowly past them, and I was still wondering why we weren't fish bait. _Daddy, what are you up to…?_

Zuko's hold on the railing tightened. "Why didn't Commander Zhao arrest me, Uncle?" he asked after we were out of Zhao's hearing and sight range.

I gave off a small humorless laugh, forgetting that I was still injured. I had to lean against Uncle for support. "Last time he let me go, he was waiting to see if I knew something. He probably wants to follow you too. He never changes his attack plans."

"And this has something to do with _me_?" Zuko wanted to know, looking at me as if I were a speck of dirt under his nose. Which to him, I probably was.

I wanted to roll my eyes at him, but refrained. "You asked a question, I gave an answer." Was this man a few pieces short of a Pai Sho set? What _didn't_ it have to do with him?

He turned around now, as if looking at me pained him. Oh well. I'd rather he ignore me than glare at me any day.

"What are you both after, my nephew?" Iroh asked, holding me up by an arm. He waited a moment to see if the Prince could guess it. When the Prince said nothing, he exclaimed, "You are going to lead him to the Avatar!"

Zuko turned away from Uncle and me altogether to lean against the railing. "If Zhao wants to follow our trail of smoke, then that's _exactly_ what I'll let him do."

**o~o~o**

Zuko released his mini ship from the main one.

"I'm going with you," I said as I pulled on the only piece of clothing I owned, trying to run and not trip. It was better to travel together, and I knew that if I went with him, then I would be out of the way for Zhao to follow me.

Zuko looked at me as if I had grown two heads. "No, you're not. You're going to stay here just like a good little girl. This is man's work."

"Man's work…I'm pretty sure that a woman made that cutter you're about to sail in," I scoffed, putting one hand on my hurt waist, glad that whomever had wrapped me up that they did it right.

Iroh put his arm around my shoulders. I didn't know if it was to steady me or to make me stop arguing with his nephew, but both happened. "Zuko, you need to take her with you. Even though she's a girl, she's still help and I do not want you to go alone. Zhao is her enemy as well."

"But Uncle—!"

"No. Take her with you."

I smirked and felt like acting like a child, sticking out my tongue, but I didn't. I had to remember that to him, I _was_ just a child. Obviously, being me, I had to prove him wrong.

Zuko, apparently a Firebender, let steam out of his nose in anger and turned away from us. I was slightly surprised to see this. Hadn't he been burned when he'd touched my skin? "Keep heading North, Uncle. Zhao will follow the smoke trail while I use it as a cover."

"You mean _us_."

The Prince ignored me before picking me up roughly and practically throwing me in the boat. He ignored the look of disbelief I sent him. "Don't get comfortable. We'll only be on here for a little while."

"Well no kidding," I mumbled as he climbed into the boat and set it off. I rubbed my backside and wondered what I'd done to make him wake up on the wrong side of the bed. He went as far away from me as he could. On the front was a telescope, and that's the first place he went.

The boat lunged off, making me lose my balance for a mere moment. The waves rolled by joyously, and I turned my face away. The smell of the saltwater made my head ache and my stomach do summersaults. Water obviously wasn't my best friend.

"So…where are we going?" I asked after many moments of awkward silence.

He didn't turn to me. Instead, he used his hand to shoo me away.

"Alright, then. How did I get to be on your ship?" I couldn't remember much, just the pain of being attacked, some Earth Kingdom soldiers, and then that was it. Maybe the Prince could answer my questions.

"Uncle found you. Be grateful that he knew you, because if I had gotten _my_ way, you would still be on your way to Ba Sing Se as a prisoner right now." He still hadn't turned back to face me.

I felt appalled that he could even say something like that. "You wouldn't have just _left _me with those monsters?" I asked incredulously.

"You are none of my concern."

I threw my hands up in the air and put my hands on the ship's railing, looking behind us. The sun on my face was soothing, and I could feel the power coursing within me. I tried to think back on what had happened as I'd tried to get away. The Earth Kingdom soldiers had had a specific insignia on their shoulder's, I'd seen it. They must have been from some small regimen, from a small town.

Well, they'd been strong, that was for sure. They'd snuck up on me, which was almost impossible, and then had attacked with precision. Koh, they'd even drawn blood!

Well, anyways, the entire trip was traveled in awkward silence. Slowly, though, we were approaching a rather small island. It was crescent-shaped, with little foliage, and had a large tower that soared towards the sky. The twelve-o'clock sun hung over the point with exact precision.

For some reason I didn't know, I felt connected to it. I remembered learning something about Avatar Roku having a temple, but was it really on an island? And if so, then why did I feel such energy coming from it?

I helped Zuko dock the boat, tying it to one of the few trees on the edge of the island. I had my foot on the bark as leverage to pull the rope taught when he walked over to me

"Stay here," he said softly, looking up at the tower with apprehension on his handsome face.

"What?" I asked, re-doing his own knot and pulling it taught once more. "Uncle told me to come along so that I could help you.

"Yes, but Uncle isn't here, is he?" he asked as he made _sure_ the boat wasn't going anywhere. I fumed to think that he had to check my knot, when in fact it was his knot would have let the boat slide back into the ocean. "So just sit down and wait for me here. If it makes you feel like you're doing something, stand watch."

"What kind of girl do you think I am?" He was probably used to little girls who were waited on hand and foot all their lives. "I'm not just going to sit here and do nothing. I'm going, and there's nothing you can do or say to stop me."

"I don't have time for this," he growled, mopping his face with his hand. He was quiet for one more moment, looking thoughtfully up to the tower. "If you don't sit down _now_, I'll use force."

"Like?" I asked wryly, my fists on my hips. "You touch one hair on my head and Uncle will kill you."

"I never said I was going to touch your hair," he scoffed, grabbing something out of the boat. "I just said that I'd merely use…different means." The calmness in his voice sent a chill up my spine.

But it wasn't until he was already behind me, tying my hands with ropes, that I got what he meant.

"_Zuko_!" I yelled angrily, struggling to get away. Finally, after having trouble tying me up, he put his knee in my back and forced me to the ground. I gasped, ready to feel the pain, but strangely, there was none. "Get _off_ of me!"

He tightened the rope extra tight before going to my feet and working on them. "This is all your fault," he reminded me, patting the side of my leg. "I told you to stay put, but you wouldn't listen. Keep yelling at me and I might have to gag you."

I pursed my lips after he finished off the rope. "You _wouldn't_."

"Try me."

After a moment, I figured that I _probably_ shouldn't try his patience…or how much rope he had. So I huffed and gave up. "Fine, whatever. Just get me up and set me against that tree." He smiled in victory before picking me up by the back of my collar. "_Gently_!"

Another smile escaped his lips before he laid me against the overgrown bush.

"You're evil," I snapped, wanting to put my arms across my chest. Oh, wait, they were tied behind my back!

He bowed mockingly and laughed. Then he turned on his heels, leaving me in dust as he ran up the back steps leading to the tower.

**o~o~o**

I don't know how long I waited there, or how long I was tied up. All I knew was that Zuko was going to be in quite a bit of trouble when all of this was over. Sitting there, fuming, I decided what I was going to tell Uncle about—the rude behavior aboard the ship, the tying up, or both. That was when a rather large shadow through the fog. It got closer and closer until finally it stopped.

When I saw the front of the massive black blob open, I knew that it was a ship. I also knew that Zhao had followed us.

"Well, well, well…" that voice tsked as he came closer. "What do we have here?" And then through the fog came my father himself, and about twenty of his men. "Is Miss Emiko defeated at last?"

I shifted uncomfortably. _Great. This has to be a record. Two days, really! _"Could you just untie me?"

"And why would I do that?" he asked as he motioned for his guards to get me. "I wouldn't want you to run to your little _boyfriend_, now would I?"

"He's _not _my _boyfriend_!" I shouted before the soldiers picked me up and threw me into a net. _How could he even consider that!_ Then, once they were sure I couldn't get out, they cut the ropes around my hands and feet. "Why do you want the Avatar so badly? Can't you just let Zuko have him?" The ground was pulled out from under me, and the net was moved by two soldiers

"I've told you that I have three priorities to take care of. First, there's you. You're my daughter and an asset to any Earth Kingdom spy if they caught you. Second, there's the Fire Nation; I am as loyal to her as I am to the sun." I was going to open my mouth to say something about that, but one look shut me up quickly. "And third, there's the Avatar. If I can get him, then I will be remembered in history as the man who won the war for the Fire Nation…and the plus side is seeing Zuko defeated."

I took back my words from earlier. "_You're_ evil."

"Why thank you," he said as he commanded the men to pick me up and carry me inside. The halls were worn, red walls with gold accents and scuffed black floors.

"I'll scream," I threatened, bracing myself to do so. My voice bounced off the walls, so I knew that the scream would carry far. "He'll come running. Either that or the Sages will come!"

A giant hand covered my mouth. His narrowed yellow eyes looked into my own, which were just like his own. "Do it, and I'll gag you."

Okay, that was the _second_ time that day that I had been threatened to be gagged. As if it happened often! So, agreeing with my better judgment, I kept quiet.

"Why did you help the Avatar?" Zuko's voice echoed through the halls. We were coming up on a large, ornately-decorated doorway, which inside held a larger room with pillars. "You are aligned with the Fire Lord!"

The room was big, with one set of large, even _more_ ornate doors to our left, pillars keeping the place up to our right and in front of us. A man kneeling in front of Zuko looked down. "Because it is our duty as Sages to protect the Avatar. It always was, always will be."

My father, always one to make an entrance, started clapping. "What a _touching_ and sincere recital…I'm sure the Fire Lord will understand when you explain why you betrayed him."

The apparent Fire Sage leader bowed. "Commander Zhao."

"And Prince Zuko, plus the lovely Emiko… I've just had twice the luck today." I blew a strand of hair out of my face, thinking of ways to get out of there. If I burned the net, I'd have to get through fifty or so guards. Was that worth the price of getting beaten down?

Zhao gave me a look that told me to be quiet before glancing back at Zuko with the look that I hated. "It was a noble effort, but your little smoke screen didn't work." He crossed his arms. _I'll have to remember to stop doing that. It's just like him._ "Three traitors, one day…the Fire Lord will be _delighted_."

Two of Zhao's extra men grabbed Zuko, forcefully pulling his hands behind his back. "Too late, Zhao!" he yelled, struggling against him. "The Avatar's inside and no one can get in!"

"No matter," Zhao said with a smirk. "Sooner or later, he has to come out."

Zhao's men took me out of the net and tied Zuko and me up to one of the many pillars. It was tight against my side, and I had to take very shallow breaths to keep the rope from cutting into my breasts.

"Some _help_…" Zuko scoffed under his breath.

I gasped, but it hurt my body. "If you would have actually let me come, I might have been able to _help _you."

"You're…you're impossible! I saved your life—twice—and you act like a child! You should be in my debt, you should listen to me at the least!"

"I didn't need your saving." _I had it under control...kind of. How exactly did he save me?_

"Well I didn't need your help!"

I saw the men and Zhao watching our little spat, and most of them had smiles or were trying to keep from laughing. My father looked rather angry. "When those doors open, unleash all your fire power."

He'd found me again. Wouldn't he ever let me just leave him in peace? I wasn't any good to anyone in the Fire Nation. All I did was hurt people.

I tried to keep the tears from streaking down my face in self-pity. When one breached my exterior, I turned my head away from Zuko and everyone else, letting it make its way down my chin to drip onto my chest.

Suddenly, a girl started talking. "How is Aang gonna make it out of this one?" I turned my head, noticing that there were two people tied up to a pillar next to us. Her skin was dark, her clothing Water Tribe. I hadn't even seen her there.

The Water Tribe boy next to her became sarcastic. "How are _we_ gonna make it out of this?" They had similar features, telling me that they were probably siblings.

Taking in my surroundings was always something I had to do, something that came automatically with the training I had. I felt ashamed of myself for losing all of the training. First, being attacked by the Earth Kingdom soldiers, now being captured again…

I was losing my touch.

Once I was sure that my face wasn't swollen from crying anymore, I turned back to the front where all of Zhao's men were lined up in front of the giant door, waiting for the Avatar to finally come out.

It was a while coming, but finally the doors opened, and we all stared at the glowing light emanating from it. Zuko and I turned toward each other to get away from the light, and he growled at me when he saw my face. His hot breath brushed against my lips.

"Great," he sneered, our faces just a breath from each other.

"Shut up," I breathed slowly, feeling the ropes pulling at my wound, at every part of my body. I quickly forgot it when fire came from the doors of the room.

Zhao shouted commands at his men. "Ready…!"

The Water Tribe girl struggled to break free of the chains. "Aang! No! Don't shoot!" The panicked look on her face told me that maybe she cared for this boy more than she actually let on. I also had a feeling that our fates were tangled in more ways than one.

"FIRE!"

And the men did, releasing powerful blasts of flame towards what I had pictured as a small, defenseless old man. But…that wasn't the little man that I had pictured. This was _Avatar Roku_. The men shot with all their force, but the Avatar countered and captured the blaze to use it to his own advantage.

The other "traitor" spoke up. "Avatar Roku!" he cried in disbelief. Well, I didn't think that anyone else was particularly prepared for that either.

Once the Avatar got up enough fire, he shot it back out. The fire attacked Zhao and his men, but disintegrated the chains that surrounded us. Zuko broke away, grabbed my arm, and ran, dragging me along behind him.

Oh, man, would I be in _loads _of pain tomorrow.

* * *

**Eh, not the best chapter, but necessary none-the-less. **


	3. Injured

**In this chapter, Zuko is hurt, and Emiko tends to his wounds. Zuko isn't the most gracious of patients, though, and their banter ensues!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender. Zuko would have had hair the first season if I did.**

* * *

**Injured**

"You're hurt."

The Prince turned to the girl with angry eyes. "_Excuse me?_"

Her pale brow furrowed, her strange hazel eyes curious as she stepped up to him. One delicate hand was about to be placed on his shoulder, which had gone numb a long time ago. "Right here. You're burned."

He scowled at her and pulled his arm away long before she could touch him. "Don't touch me, peasant!" Just the thought of her touching him made his insides squirm in disgust.

The girl—Emiko, he thought her name was—looked a little paler than normal, but other than that there was a fury in those bright, sun-colored eyes. "I-I don't care what you call me, that needs looked at."

_Looked at?_ he wondered slightly, wondering if she saw the giant red menace on his left eye or if she was partially blind.

"Did you hear me?" she demanded, faltering slightly and grabbing onto the metal railing for support. His shoulder hadn't hurt until she'd mentioned it, and it probably could wait until they made it back to the ship where he had a doctor. Right now all he had was an annoying girl by his side, irritation in his jaw, and a searing pain on his shoulder. And most likely, she was going to try to help him.

She stood back up straight a moment later, taking a deep breath. "Come on."

"_Excuse me?_"

Emiko grumbled curse words under her breath that left him raising an eyebrow. "You sure as Agni like to repeat yourself, don't you? Just follow me so I can look at that wound before it scars."

He stood there and crossed his arms over his chest, which turned out to be a bad move. Originally it was supposed to show his defiance and strength, but at that moment it showed his weakness when he winced at the pain in his shoulder.

"Exactly."

Sighing in defeat, he allowed the short girl to lead him back into the cabin that sat on top of the flat boat. Inside he noticed as she skimmed the supplies, pulling down a few bottles, jars, and cups.

"What are you doing?" he asked, standing right behind her. He saw the hairs on the back of her neck prick up, but she didn't react any differently.

"I'm fixing a healing salve for that burn. It won't leave any scarring if I get in on there in the first two hours of your getting hurt. Lucky, too, because how would it look if the Prince of the Fire Nation had something marring his perfect, m-muscled chest?" She was mocking, but he could tell by the way she stuttered at the end that she appreciated that chest.

He smiled cockily, looking over her shoulder to see some kind of dairy product in her slender hands as she poured multiple ingredients into a medium-sized bowl. "How do I know that you won't poison me?"

"I wish I could," she sighed over-dramatically, stirring a little bit slower with some kind of wooden spoon. "Only I have no way of getting back to the main ship and Uncle."

_Why in the world does she keep calling _my_ uncle Uncle?_ he wondered with a slight frown. If they had been back in the Fire Nation, she would have been flogged or killed for being so formal with the Dragon of the West. "How do you know my Uncle?"

She turned to him, bowl in hand, and frowned slightly. "You're going to have to take off your shirt."

"_Excuse me?_"

She shook her head irately and looked up to him. "I'm too short to pull it over your head. So either you take it off, or I cut it off. Your choice." The girl seemed to have a very short patience.

But then again, so did he. "I don't have to listen to a _peasant_."

Suddenly she reached down into the split of her skirt and removed something. He suddenly noticed the sheath around the top of her shapely thigh, and she pulled out a small hunting, maybe even throwing knife. "Call me a peasant. _One_ more time."

"Or what?" he demanded, taking one step closer to her. "What are you going to do to me? You're shorter, you're smaller. You probably weigh half of me. What could you do to hurt me?"

"I'll castrate you if you're not careful, _Prince_. Now take the shirt off before I decide to be mean."

"And this is what you consider _nice_?" he wanted to know in a grumble as he sat down on the small bench in the room and tried to pull his shirt over his head. He gasped as the shirt started pulling at the burned skin of his wound, when suddenly Emiko sighed and put her hand on his, pushing his arm back down. She was as tall as he was whenever he sat down.

"I'll do it." She took the knife and quickly and painlessly cut off the sleeve of his shirt, shaking her head at the waste of such good material. She then cut down the underarm, down the seam, and to the hem until it was cut all the way through. "There. You should be able to get it the rest of the way off yourself. I'll sew it up later since I was the one to cut it up."

"I didn't give you permission, did I?" he growled as he bitterly pulled out of the shirt. _Damn it, and that was my good shirt._

She didn't answer. Instead she turned from him to grab the salve, then turned back around. She didn't even look at his chest as she started gently picking out the burned pieces of shirt and dirt that had gotten caught in the wound.

She hit a particularly painful spot, making his reflexes shoot up to grasp her around the wrist. Emiko glared at him. "He saved me." She snatched that small wrist away as she continued to do what she had before.

"_What_?"

"Uncle. He saved my life."

_Oh. _"Very interesting, but I don't see why you call him _Uncle_. He's mine, not yours, and you know it."

She dug extra deep into his shoulder, making him cringe and dodge away from her fingers. "I don't give a rat-a-keet's feathered rump what you think I know or don't know. All I _do_ know and will tell you is that he found me when I…lost my way. A long time ago. He found me, taught me Pai Sho, gave me tea, and showed me the way back."

He grimaced at her calm tone, wondering why he was letting this girl touch him. He never let anyone heal him unless it was his personal doctor. "How do you know all of this? Were you a handmaiden?"

She stopped her messing with his wound and pulled away, placing one fist on a supple hip. "What is this, twenty questions?" But he saw the flush on her cheeks, knowing that she knew exactly all of the duties of a handmaiden. "And…no." She began again with the painful treatment. "That would require me being in the Fire Nation with a Priest or a Sage. Uh, I don't know if you saw those traitorous bags in there, going against the Avatar and all, but—"

"They were traitorous to my _Nation_!" he exclaimed, grasping her wrist in his hand again. This time she didn't pull away. Instead she just stood there and glared at him as if telling him to go on. "If anything I should have had them all killed!"

She raised her voice, narrowing her eyes. "You would do that for a Nation that _abandoned_ you?" she asked in a voice so low that it was threatening, still not pulling her arm from his. "_Koh_, your ideals are screwed up."

He wanted to strike her. If he had had the right to, he would have punished her like a man should have control over a woman. But if he laid a single hand on her, he believed that Iroh would unleash a horrible fury on him and he would be even worse off than the men six feet under.

The Prince just threw her arm back down and stood up, bending down to grab his shirt. He started to walk out when her small fingers wrapped around his bicep, her nails digging into her skin. "Sit. Down. _Now_."

Emiko was fuming, her black hair seeming to simmer as if a fire. _\_He shook his head and tried to balance himself when suddenly she pulled back with that hand and forcefully sat him down on the bench.

"You know, I would _love_ to watch this wound get infected and see you die a slow, _painful_ death. But I've already cleaned out most of the debris. So the chances of it getting infected are zero to none."

He ground his teeth as she began to dig at a painfully imbedded rock. "How in the Spirit World can you do this?" he ground out through his teeth, taking deep breaths through his nose and teeth. Most of the women he knew were simpering weaklings who fainted at the slightest sign of blood.

"I'm normally very queasy when it comes to blood, but when you were hurt it seared the veins closed. I've had a lot of injuries in my time. And for me, when there's no blood, there's no nausea." She shrugged. "I'm not even thinking about it right now. All I know is that if I don't get this salve on there in the next thirty minutes, you're going to be scarred for life."

"I already _am_," he growled out, flinching as she turned her hot gaze upon him.

"What?"

He narrowed his eye at the ignorant girl. "Don't you see the giant red _target_ on my face? The gigantic scar that makes me look like a horrible monster to most women like _you_?"

She blinked once, twice, then cocked her head questioningly. "You know, I really hadn't noticed it until you mentioned it. Huh." She shrugged, then dug her hand into the strange red salve she had concocted.

…_She hadn't noticed it._ That was the sentence that replayed over and over in his head. _How in the world could she not notice something like this?_

"And…it doesn't make you look like a monster," she said softly, her eyes hidden by dark, midnight black bangs.

He was about to retaliate when her hand touched his wound. He quickly tried to brace himself for the pain, but instead of pain came…sweet bliss. His whole shoulder felt as if it were covered in the most luxurious lotion, something that shouldn't have been made out of mismatched items in a storage room.

"Actually," she added softly, adding a dollop more of the strange salve, "it gives you a…_distinct_ look. I really, _really_ hadn't noticed it until you purposely pointed it out."

Well wasn't he at a loss for words? Really he was lost in the wonderful feeling of the cream on his shoulder.

"Okay, this might hurt a little," she admitted suddenly. She then grabbed a bottle of something near to her, then stuck the opening on his lower lip. "Drink. Now. I'd rather you be slightly drunk when I do this."

He did as she said, though very warily, and instantly felt the heat drag down his throat and settle in the pit of his stomach. _Fire Whiskey?_ _What in the Spirit World is this woman about to do to me?_

Very suddenly he knew the answer when she tipped the bottle upsidedown over his shoulder. Searing pain coursed through his entire body, fire streaming from his nose and fingertips as he jumped up and away from the demoness.

"What in Koh's name is wrong with you?" he demanded as she coughed from the smoke he had created. She pushed past him and out into the sunlight, taking deep breaths of the fresh air. "Answer me, peasant!"

Her back tensed up. She didn't turn to face him, instead letting a cold edge enter her voice. "I was trying to be a nice person."

"What the hell are you talking about?" he growled, grabbing her arm and turning her to face him. He had to look down, as she was rather short. Her eyes were furious, her thick black hair flying out behind her in the wind, as well as the slitted skirt she wore. Her hair was thicker than most women he knew, who kept their hair thin and straight. It was so thick that it was wavy, and it went to the bottom of her shoulder blades. Her face was framed by bangs, which whipped around her face in curly tendrils. Her face was oval, with high cheekbones, a strong chin, and baby fat on her cheeks still. Her forehead was high, her eyes surrounded by thick black lashes.

Her eyes were the strangest thing, though. They weren't topaz, as many Fire Nation citizens, nor were they hazel. They were more of a transparent yellow color, with bursts of orange, brown, and hazel colors when she got angry. She wore a betrothal necklace around her neck made of black onyx with an insignia of a Private on it when she was yet sixteen.

Suddenly the strange girl shoved past him. He reached out to grab her, but she was already back in the cabin, slamming the door shut.

Zuko glowered and closed his hand into a fist, wanting to puch something. _Really_ punch something. Most wanted, to punch a certain girl. But he wouldn't hit a woman unless absolutely necessary.

He went to stretch his shoulder blades when he realized that his wound was only a slight throbbing at the moment. He looked down to see most of the burn gone already, only slight bruises and a place that looked as if the skin had peeled away as if for a banana. It was already starting to place itself back together.

The Prince looked at the door where Emiko had disappeared. _Who are you, Emiko?_ he wondered silently, crossing his arms over his chest. He looked towards the cabin with curious topaz eyes.

* * *

**Emiko's got a little bit of an anger issue, but not as much as Zuko! She was just trying to help, Prince.**


	4. Breaking the News

**Zuko learns in this chapter that Emiko is a very, very big distraction for his crew. He sets out to get her off of his ship.**

**I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender. The movie would have been very much changed, if I did own it.**

* * *

**Breaking the News**

**One Week Later…**

Zuko stood on the top deck, looking out on his men working. He let his eyes stray, looking at the scenery. Beautiful blue and green waves rolled and crashed, creating foam that twirled and danced across the water. Hues of gold occasionally attempted to enter the beautiful liquid, but were quickly washed away.

His eyes scanned the horizon, waiting for the piece of land that was soon going to be breaking the sereneness of the ocean. He looked up to see the gold, pink, purple, and blues of the rising sun, taking in the sent of the saltwater off the foam. The clouds were light and fluffy, waiting for the breeze to send them across the sky.

The Prince smiled to himself. The piece of land that was going to break the horizon was exactly what he needed. Once they docked at an Earth Kingdom town to drop Emiko off, everything would be perfect again. He would finally be able to continue his search for the Avatar and quit worrying about the irritating little girl who kept ransacking his ship.

The other day he had found her in the kitchen, doing everything but cooking, and he had thought that perhaps she was finally where she belonged. But then he found her ransacking his food, and she doused him with whatever kind of soup she had made, making him even more angry at her. She only smiled, though, and left with a slightly guilty look in her eyes.

He might have lost his temper on the chef for letting her in, though that wasn't important. What was important was keeping her out of crucial areas of the ship. It was hard to be angry at someone who looked bashful after they'd done something wrong. Unfortunately for her, she did it _every time_ after the _multitude _of things she did wrong.

He looked down and saw Jee arguing with one of the mechanics, pointing angrily to the hull where smoke was still partially seeping through. The mechanic nodded and swiftly made his way back towards the hull before Jee turned on his heels to go below deck, probably to yell at the coal-shovelers to do their job better.

Zuko took in a deep breath and closed his eyes, listening to the peace and quiet of the morning. Everything was perfect.

That is, until he opened his eyes and saw Emiko again. She was on the deck, flowing through the moves of a basic Firebending move that Zuko had long forgotten. For being a pain in his backside, he had to admit that she was graceful.

The Prince didn't take his eyes away from her. All she was wearing was the wrapping around her waist and small breasts and a pair of baggy black pants. Not that he didn't enjoy the view, but he could tell that she was distracting the other men. And being on deck during the day was not what she needed to be doing.

He eyed her curving frame, letting his lips go up in a smile. _ If only she wasn't a peasant_, he thought wryly. _I might've actually taken notice of her back when I lived at the palace if she had been a noble. _

Her fair skin glinted in the sunlight—which made him wonder if in fact somewhere back in her line that maybe she was a noble. Her round face was set in determination. He could see the glint in her bright yellow eyes as she twirled and danced, spinning her body in a way that was slightly intriguing.

The Prince had to admit that, even though she was the most absurd woman he had ever met, she was also one of the most attractive.

For the first time since he met her, the girl wasn't wearing that betrothal choker around her thin neck. Now it was around her right arm, the one that wasn't partially wrapped from the bandaging.

He'd seen the wound himself and he cringed at the thought. It would scar, obviously, though Iroh kept trying to keep it from doing so by insisting it be kept wrapped, to keep it from infection. He would have loved to see it get infected so they already could have put her off the ship so that she would have had to see a land doctor.

That is, until Iroh entered his mind. For some reason that Zuko couldn't figure out, the old General was emotionally attached to this girl. She was nothing important, so why would Uncle be so connected to her?

Suddenly, General Iroh—speak of Koh—burst out of the cabins underneath the Prince and stormed over to where Emiko was. Taking her arm in his hand, he pulled the girl to a stop, giving glares to all of the men who were not doing their jobs.

Zuko wondered how Iroh could stand to touch her skin. The few times the Prince had done it, he thought his hands were going to burn off! There was something strange about a Firebender whose skin was hotter than another's.

Uncle wagged a finger at her, and suddenly Zuko wished that he could hear the scolding she was getting. It was hilarious enough to see the angered look on her face, but to hear what was going to happen…

To Zuko's surprise, the girl smiled and giggled. Part of her melodic laughter reached his ears, and he was taken back. Was that the first time he had heard her laugh? She sounded like a small child.

Her laughter started dying, and finally her face was dead serious. She shook her head back and forth, trying to smile wryly, but then she started to show some rarely-seen anger.

Iroh closed his eyes and shook his head.

"AUGH!" Emiko screamed loudly, throwing her hands up in the air. The men on board turned to watch the argument unfolding, but quickly turned back to their work when Iroh commanded them to.

"Please tell me you're joking, Uncle!" reached his ears.

Iroh shook his head, and she stormed off to the cargo hold where she was making her temporary stay. Iroh sat down on a nearby crate, putting his head in his hands.

**Emiko**

I couldn't help but take a deep breath of the cool mountain air, stretching my sea-legged body and my injured side. Iroh had finally let me put my shirt again, though nothing form-fitting. At the moment I had on a make-shift loose-flowing tunic made out of an old tunic of Iroh's, but it itched.

Iroh came up behind me and put a hand on the small of my back. "You will not leave my side, Emiko."

Knowing that there was a festival in town, I felt a little bit of irritation at the fact that he wanted to keep me reined in. "But Uncle—"

"No. You will listen to me on this matter, Emiko."

I sighed but agreed, keeping close to him by putting my arm in his. We walked through the small town, admiring many of the shops and festivities. Dancers were roaming the streets, celebrating the life of the earth. It was a good change from the ship, which unfortunately I would be looking at for a while.

"Thank you for this, Uncle," I said softly, smiling at the old man. Even though he'd told me that I'd be staying with him as long as I wouldn't go back to my father, I still had to thank him. He understood that no matter if the man was my father, I couldn't stand being around him. But he'd made a counter-argument, stating that I'd have to have some kind of parental figure until I was sixteen or healed, whichever came first.

Unfortunately, it would probably be my sixteenth birthday that came first.

"I am glad that you can enjoy it, unlike my nephew," he said heartily, eyeing a girl who walked by. I wanted to feel a little disgusted, but he was single, and apparently handsome to the older community, so what could I say about it? "He decided that he would not come out here with us."

_Good riddance,_ I thought, right as I told Uncle, "Oh, what a shame."

I felt…I don't know, upset that I owed that spoiled brat my life. He acted as if anything that I did was the most horrible thing that anyone could have ever done to him! He'd saved me once, when the missile had almost hit me, but then he'd taken me onto his ship after I'd been attacked by the Earth Kingdom soldiers.

I sighed at the fact that if someone had done something for me, I always had to return the favor. So that meant that I owed Zuko two life-savings, a clean shirt, and a sewed-up one. I hadn't meant to spill my soup on him, and then the other shirt had needed to be cut off.

I mean, what was the point of trying to be nice to someone or trying to gain their respect when they didn't think that your existence on the planet was worthwhile? He thought that I was mud on his shoe or something miniscule like that. I could put up with his anger as long as I had Uncle, though.

Iroh chuckled, seeing right through me. "I'm sure that you are quite happy that my nephew has not come along."

I sighed, stopping in the middle of the road and rubbing the back of my head. It was hard to describe my feelings for Zuko. Obviously I thought he was rather good-looking, but he was so conceited, and so mean… "He's rather…difficult to deal with." Like a mule that doesn't want to be broken. "I even tried to help him the other day, but I didn't get so much as a thank you."

"Zuko can be difficult to get along with," he said gently, patting my hand. "But if you give him a chance, I'm sure that you will both be friends."

That only made me feel worse. Just thinking about being his "friend" made a dark cloud appear in my mind. I made myself laugh. "Sure, Uncle. Whatever you say."

_**Zuko**_

Zuko looked out on the festivities, feeling slightly disgusted by all of the Earth Kingdom drabble. No matter how happy the surrounding area was, he couldn't seem to get into the spirit of "Earth Day."

Dancers moved around him, moving to the beat of a song sung somewhere far away by an overweight older woman with a bad hairdo. He sighed and ignored the silk scarves of women draping over him, wanting to go back to the solitude of his ship.

Suddenly he saw a familiar wave of black hair, and he looked over to see that Emiko was dancing with a group of children perhaps in their eighth summers or younger. They were all spinning in a circle before clapping their hands and doing a few single twirls. The youngest ones were squealing in joy. She herself was acting like a child, and though she looked it, there was no mistaking that she was a woman by the shape of her short body.

The curve of her thick waist was still a curve, and though she barely had any breasts, there was slightly enough curve to show that she in fact was a woman. In her hips, there really wasn't enough arch there to interest him.

Her neck, though…it was long, slender, and connected to equally slender shoulders. That was a part of her that really attracted him. He had a feeling that in a few years, she would loose any and all of the baby fat on her face and in her waist, and perhaps she would develop, and she would have a figure that even he might turn his head for.

She actually was turning a few heads, though when the men came over to her, she just smiled and talked to them as if they weren't trying to ask her to dance. She was just being friendly, apparently not knowing how to flirt. She really was acting like a child, as if she didn't know what to do when a man asked for her arm!

Iroh sat down next to him as Zuko watched her twirl and glide with the children, dismissing the men with a friendly wave, a rather attractive smile on her face. Iroh didn't say anything as he sat next to his nephew, both of them watching the girl.

Finally, Iroh broke the silence. "She is something, isn't she?"

Zuko made himself scoff and look away. For some reason, her crinkled eyes stayed in his memory. "Perhaps a large child."

Iroh chuckled and looked off into the distance. "She doesn't look at you with admiring eyes, either. Perhaps if you tried to get along, things might be better on the ship?"

"She won't be here for much longer, so what does it matter?" There was no need for him to befriend her. She was only a thorn in his side, and he would be rid of her soon.

"I—"

His mind suddenly switched gears, and he remembered this morning by the way Emiko was dancing now. "What were you telling Emiko today?" he asked quickly, interrupting and shocking his uncle to where he was speechless.

But the old General composed himself and cleared his throat. He was visibly uncomfortable, but Zuko was the leading officer on this ship and he needed the answer.

"Well?"

Iroh cleared his throat again. "Prince Zuko, you have to promise that you won't become angry with me."

Zuko rolled his eyes. "I'm completely calm, Uncle," he assured the old man. And he'd be even calmer if Emiko was not prancing around like a wanton.

"As you know, Emiko is not well."

He already didn't like where this was going. "Uh-huh."

"And she cannot fend for herself at the stage of recovery she is in."

The Prince frowned. She could fend for herself just fine when or if she ever decided to stop acting like a child. "And?"

"Well…"

There was a long pause.

Finally Iroh sighed and got out, "She's staying with us."

Zuko's temper flared, as did the candles around them, threatening to expose them as Firebenders. Iroh knew that it would happen, for he looked away from the blazing flames.

"I can't believe that you would even consider this kind of thing without consulting me!"

"Now Zuko," Iroh chided, looking towards Emiko nervously, as if she could hear, "Emiko is a very old friend of mine. I have a duty to protect her. And in order to do that, I will keep her close until she is better. After she heals, she can go her own way." For the first time in his life, Zuko saw that Iroh was glaring at him. "But I will not allow her to leave until then."

* * *

**Emiko is now a permanent member of the ship. Zuko obviously doesn't like this idea.**


	5. Arrg!

**This chapter pertains to Emiko's year with the Pirates, when she first escaped her father. Oh, and Zuko figures out that he doesn't like the look of fear on Emiko's face.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender. If I did, Jet would still be alive (and less crazy) and Katara would NOT be a Mary Sue(:**

* * *

**Arrrg!**

"Emiko, what are you doing?"

"Zuko—!" Emiko completely lost her balance from walking on the bowsprit, staggering before catching herself and grinning at her control. He had no idea what in Koh's name she was thinking, but she could fall off of the ship. Not that he would mind, but Iroh would have a conniption if he found out that Zuko had just let her do that. "Whew."

"I asked you a question," he growled out, grasping her bare wrist in his hand. He was greeted with the burning of her skin, but he tried to ignore it.

She glared at him with those un-earthly eyes for a few moments before she snatched her small wrist away. "I was taking a walk on the deck. Is that a problem?"

"Yes," he growled, flexing his hand a moment to get rid of the burning sensation. "If you happened to fall—"

"_If_ I fell," she scoffed, throwing her hands up in the air. "I've walked on structures thinner than this." She stomped the thick metal railing, making him reach for her again out of reflex, but she dodged out of the way in a move that was almost graceful. "Since when do you care what happens to me?"

"I don't—_care_," he said cautiously, eying her with hesitation, ready to reach for her if the ship lurched. She grinned at his hesitation in wording. "But Iroh would be furious if I let anything happen to you."

"Oh, so this is all about Iroh." She stretched her arms up above her head, spacing out her wrappings to show even lighter skin underneath, where the sun hadn't hit in a while. "I see."

He tried not to stare. "No, you _don't_ see—"

Suddenly the boat changed coarse, making everyone, even Emiko lose their balance. She made sure to fall inwards, instead of backwards into the water, and Zuko stumbled as he caught her. He was rather surprised to find that she was sturdier than he had thought, which was why he staggered when she landed in his arms. He couldn't see how that weight could fit into such a little girl.

The heat of her skin burned his forearms so much to where he wanted to drop her, but with the way his legs were, he felt that he would fall himself, and she would fall on top of him. And, seeing how much she really did weigh, he didn't think that it would be a particularly pleasant situation.

She looked dazed when the boat finally stopped moving, and being cradled in his arms seemed to have revived her. She looked left, right, then down at the floor before finally looking into his eyes. Hers were pretty much asking, _'Well?'_

"You might want to be more careful when you're taking a walk on the deck," he said softly to her, smirking at her dumb-struck look. "Wouldn't want anything to happen, now, would we?"

"Why did we change course?" she asked instead of snapping back at him, looking up into the helmsman's room. "Aren't you more concerned with your ship than you are with me, Captain?"

He had nothing to say to that, which made him particularly angry. How could she possibly out-wit him? She was nothing but a commoner! So with angry thoughts in his head, he decided to roughly drop her to the floor.

A disbelieving sound came out of her pale, creamy throat. "Oww…" Zuko chuckled as he walked away, listening into her profanities as she rubbed her backside. It would have been very interesting to stick around to see what she was going to do. He did have to admit that she was right, though, and he really did need to see as to why they had changed course. He'd been too occupied with the girl in his arms.

"Why are we changing course?" he demanded as he got into the helmsman's quarters. Iroh and a few of the crew were sitting around a table, money strewn across it, while the helmsman gripped the wheel with white knuckles. "What's the meaning of this mutiny? No one told you to change course!"

Uncle and half the crew were playing Pai Sho, sitting around a small, round table in the tiny room. "Actually," Iroh said importantly, "someone did. I assure you Prince Zuko, it is of utmost importance."

At that time, Emiko walked in. "Uncle, you're playing Pai Sho?" There was a hint of scolding in her voice, though her light eyes danced with happiness. "Alright, then." She didn't even ask as she pulled up the only other chair in the room and sat down in it regally. "Point or penny?"

"Penny."

Zuko ignored their conversation and kept on with his more important matters. He couldn't help but feel excitement well up inside of him, as if he were a small child on Fire Nation Day. "It has something to do with the Avatar, though, right?"

"Even more crucial…" Uncle said as Emiko moved a tile, a quite devious glint in her eyes, though nothing on her face. Iroh only grunted. "It seems that I've lost my Lotus Tile."

The only girl on board gasped and stopped moving a piece. The other men looked relieved.

Prince Zuko already knew that it was probably something stupid, but he asked anyways. _I know I'm going to regret this… _"Lotus Tile?"

"For a Pai Sho game," Emiko informed him, easily flipping over two tiles with a happy glint in her eyes. She still had no emotion on her face. Uncle scratched his chin and moved another tile, making her purse her lips. "And although most people think that it's insignificant…"

Uncle moved a game piece forward, and everyone playing, except Emiko, moaned in defeat. "…It is vital for the unusual strategy that I employ."

Zuko stepped up, feeling his rage growing like steam in a closed pipe. He did regret asking his question, because now he was furious that they were going someplace different for a damn game piece! "So you changed our course for a stupid Lotus Tile?"

"See, you're just like everyone else," Emiko sighed, pushing three tiles forwards and smirking in a way that made him slightly disconcerted. "You don't think that it has any value."

Uncle moved one more, and she instantly clenched her fist on top of the table. "Just give me ten minutes to check with the merchants at this port of call. With a bit of luck, they'll have the Lotus Tile in supply, and I can get on with my life!"

Zuko tried hard to control his anger, but let flames out of his mouth. The smoke that emitted from his mouth covered the room and everyone in it.

Uncle just smiled as Emiko pulled back her loot, making all of the men groan and throw down their pieces. "I'm lucky to have such an understanding nephew!"

**Emiko**

It was so nice to get out on my feet again that I was skipping down the streets. It was hard to believe that I'd been another week since I'd seen land, and my legs were joyous! Though it was difficult to walk at first, I quickly got the hang of it and ran to the nearest tea shop to buy the supplies that Uncle insisted that we needed.

I heard him chuckle behind me. "Do not be so eager, young one. We have all the time we need."

"Not if Zuko has anything to say about it," I grumbled, picking up the many herbs and spices needed to make Uncle's favorite tea. It was a little expensive, but the earnings I'd made that morning from Pai Sho made it very simple to purchase. And I still had enough left to buy a new set of clothes.

"You have still not made any progress then, I take it?" he asked as he effortlessly took my belongings from me, as if I were a small child. I let him have this one, though, because I was awfully tired from walking already.

"None," I said, though I was thinking, _I don't plan on it._ The more that I could keep away from the irritating prince the better. Not that I was around him often anyways, but every so often I would come out on the top deck in the morning to see him and his men training, and I would admire his hard work. _Or more like those hard abs. Face it, Emiko, you think he's good-looking._

And if he ever figured that out, I knew that his ego would just inflate even larger, and he would never let me live it down.

"Ooh, Emiko, this tunic is handsome! It would look lovely on you," Iroh said when we walked to the next booth, gesturing to a very pretty light yellow dress that rather matched my eyes. It was a little too…I don't know, "dressy" for my taste.

I tried to smile at him, but it kind of failed. "I thought we were looking for a Lotus Tile, Uncle?"

"Yes, but I thought that while we were here we could put you in clothing that really suits you." He frowned, motioning to the large tunic that covered my top half now. "Let us face it, my clothing _hardly_ does that."

I felt myself growing hot in the cheeks, shaking my head at him. "I'm fine, really, Uncle. Besides, I'm working on sewing up a set of your old clothes and it looks just fine on me. Really." I didn't need him buying me anything. I could take care of myself.

"No, I will buy a few things for you. I am your guardian at the moment, therefore I will provide for you. Besides, you deserve nice things!" He smiled widely at me, and I had to blush and look at the floor, shuffling my feet.

I wasn't used to being spoiled or given anything, even as a small girl. My mother had made it certain that I'd been brought up right, that I was given modest things and wasn't spoiled, so that I didn't turn out to be like a certain Prince I knew. And then, after she'd died, I'd worked hard for everything I'd gotten, and still had had no recognition from my father.

"It is about time that I see you in a nice dress anyways. Good madam!" He called over a kind-looking elderly woman who smiled sweetly at us both. "If you could take my young child and fit her into some rather nice clothes…make sure that they are feminine, please." I gave him a harsh look, blush lighting up my cheeks. "I know your tastes, Emiko, and if you could get away with wearing pants and a man's tunic, you would. In the meanwhile, I will be looking for my Lotus Tile. Spare no expense, madam."

And with that, he left me with a docile old lady with fashion evil in her eyes.

_Shudder._

**Zuko**

"Are you ready yet?"

"Yeah, just a second Uncle…I can't…" Zuko heard what sounded like a grunt, and he clenched his teeth to keep from letting out the loudest sight that he'd ever wanted to give. "…seem to get…this zipper… AH!" She gasped, giving Zuko the impression that she either broke it or she finally zipped it and she just couldn't breathe. "Good Spirits, who wear these things?"

"Women do, Emiko, now step out so that I can see!" Iroh called, a large smile on his face. He was acting as if he had a grandchild—a girl grandchild, and a young one at that—that he could spoil. Life would be simpler if he wouldn't spoil her, or if she would take to the spoiling. No—life would be simpler if _she wasn't in it._

Zuko finally sighed, looking at Iroh, who was patiently waiting for Emiko to finish. Zuko, on the other hand, had been waiting for much, much too long. "Uncle, we've searched every shop on the pier. No one sells Lotus Tiles."

Iroh didn't seem to be listening to his nephew, who let a small amount of steam come from his nose in anger. Zuko sat down next to the dressing box, angrily counting the many of his men walking outside, carrying useless things. _Three...four...is that a _dog_?_

Emiko seemed to hesitate before opening small curtain. There was a long silence, and Iroh became impatient. "Emiko?" he asked, an annoyed tone in his voice. "Are you done?"

"I'm not coming out!" she shouted at him, and Zuko could just see the red irritation coating her face. The Prince sighed, getting him an angry growl from Emiko. "I look horrid!" she answered with a cracking voice. "I am not coming out!" When the Prince chuckled, she yelled, "Shut it, Zuko! I just don't look right in this outfit, Uncle. I'm not fit to wear dresses. Just let me get a few pants, please?"

Zuko just clenched his jaw. "It was a good thing to know that this trip was a waste of time for _everyone_." _Even Emiko_, he thought with a flash of irritation. "Let's just go."

"Wait—" she called out, her voice nervous and hoarse. "I…I'll come out."

He heard her pull the curtain back and a noise-making shoe stepped out onto the rug-covered floor.

"Marvelous!" Iroh cried, probably as he spun her around to see it all. "Just do this…" A moment of silence. "There."

Zuko felt curiosity spring out of his body, and he wanted to will his body to sit up so that he could see her. He realized that he'd only ever seen her in ragged pants, Iroh's overly large tunics, and the wrapping of her wounds. He bit his cheek to keep from moving, but his body willed him forwards.

Iroh was spinning a femininely-clad Emiko around to look at every aspect of the dress, and she was blushing from head to toe. Her hair was up in a messy bun, tendrils of curly hair framing her face, her bangs having been pulled back. Her eyes were brighter, he noticed, either from her hair being pulled back or from the blush on her cheeks.

The dress she was wearing was a shade lighter than her eyes, almost white, with long sleeves and a high neckline. A small diamond was cut out in the front of the dress on her chest, which there seemed to be more of, for some reason. He noticed that the wrapping was not on underneath. Perhaps it had been restricting her. She was maybe twice the size she had been when the wrap had been on. It still wasn't much, though.

The dress had a high waistline and was tight to her wide waist, though it seemed to make her look a little taller, at least. She wore dainty shoes underneath that matched the intricate design, which was in fact white and one could not see unless one was looking rather closely.

Which, he realized with a faint flush, he was doing. He turned his head away, as if this newly-found feminine Emiko really did not intrigue him at all. Iroh must have seen through this, though, because he was smiling.

"Should I get it, then?" Emiko asked with distress in her voice as she looked at herself in a gold-lined mirror, gently touching what appeared to be the silk fabric on her neck. "I mean, it looks rather expensive…"

"It will be worth it when you realize how beautiful you look," Iroh said in a father-like tone, placing his hand on the small of Emiko's back so that he could brush a large curl out of her face. "I've already had the woman ring up your other clothes, though if you would like this one, I can get it for you."

"I wasn't really looking for it…"

"The only thing better than finding what you were looking for is finding something you weren't looking for at a great bargain!" he exclaimed as a man came in and asked Iroh if his order was right. Iroh signed the form and told Emiko to get changed, making sure that she would get the dress.

Zuko looked outside, turning away from all of them, and saw something that made him feel disgusted. "You got a _Sumki Horn_? Why do we need one of _those_?"

"For Music Night on the ship!" Uncle exclaimed, a large smile adorned on his lips. "Now if only we had some woodwinds…"

Emiko walked out of the dressing room wearing a simple white tunic with white-gold embellishments, her hair up in a simple bun, and white pants with white-gold slip-on shoes. She still looked rather dashing, though, and Zuko cursed her for this fact. At least her chest was semi-wrapped again.

"Now all you need are some things to furnish your room, Emiko," Iroh said with a large smile, giving Emiko a gentle nudge out of the shop. He gave the older shopkeeper Emiko's new dress and took both teenagers outside into the light, making Zuko blink from the change in brightness. He didn't know if it was in his mind or not that Emiko wasn't bothered at all. In fact, she welcomed the extra light.

"Ooh, this place looks promising!" Iroh called, making Zuko look away from his sudden fascination with Emiko. He looked up to see that there was a large, dark ship docked in the harbor, looming over them.

Zuko grimaced as Iroh went into the ship first, and the Prince moved to keep going, but Emiko had stopped in her place. He ran into her, jerking her back into reality. Her face was as pale as her new clothes.

"I-I'm not going in there," she whispered, her light eyes narrowed with hesitation and worry. "Nope. I'll see you back at the ship." She turned around to run back into him, and he steadied her with his hands to her shoulders.

She really did look scared, like a little child who was left all alone. He was actually disappointed that it made him feel less-than-enthused. He'd wanted to see what fear looked like on her, as she'd always seemed so tough, as if she could never be scared. But now that he saw it, he just felt like…well, he felt like a jerk.

Sighing, he put his hand between her shoulder blades and pushed her forwards. "Iroh is in there. Its not like anything is going to happen."

"No, I'm fine, really." She tried to turn herself around, but he stubbornly kept her going. He pushed her up the gangplank before she even tried to turn around again. "Zuko, let me go!"

With a stubbornness that ran in his family, Zuko gripped her arms and shook her slightly. "We won't be in here long, so just get over your petty fears and get inside the damn boat!"

Her eyes narrowed dangerously, and she tore out of his grip. She straightened her new clothes as if he had done some kind of wrong-doing. Then she pursed her lips, turned her nose up at him, and marched into the ship.

When Zuko finally made sure that she wouldn't come back out, he walked into the shop, instantly knowing that three-fourths of the store was stolen or somehow illegally gotten. Iroh was admiring something, with, "Ooo! This is handsome! Don't you think it would look pleasant in the Galley?" Emiko was right behind Iroh like a small, scared child, her face hidden by loose tendrils of her hair.

He turned back to look at weapons, but then when Iroh called him over the next time, he didn't see Emiko. "Uncle?" he asked cautiously, looking at one of the men with a wary eye. "Where is Emiko?"

"Hmm? Oh, she knows some of the men aboard apparently. They pulled her aside for tea."

Zuko didn't know if he liked that or not. They all had dark, beady eyes that shifted, and they were thieves. How did Emiko know them in the first place? Especially that one man, the one with dark skin, high cheekbones, and long, dirty hair with a look that could make anyone's spine tingle.

"Really, I've got to go…" Emiko was saying as she backed out of a nearby room. Zuko could hear a different tone in her voice, and when he looked at her, she was glaring, her eyes suddenly very grown up. "Thanks, but no thanks, guys."

"But you're traveling with the Fire Nation now?" the rather fat man wanted to know, his eyes incredulous

She winced, as if those were dirty words. She moved closer and jerked her hand towards Zuko, making him wonder what she was whispering to the man.

"Oh…that explains it," he said with a wide grin. "You are more of the lone wolf type, my friend."

She smirked, holding out her hand so that he would shake it, but instead he picked it up and kissed it. Zuko saw the look of disgust on her face, before she wiped it off to have the best-concealed emotions that he'd ever seen on anyone.

Wiping her hand on her pants, she stepped back, making sure that she was as far away from the pirates as possible. Now that the pirates were away from her, she lowered her guard again, and she looked exhausted and scared. Iroh tried to comfort her, seeing that she was distressed, but she put the wall back up again and her emotions were lost to Zuko.

"We lost the Water Tribe girl and the little bald monk she was traveling with," started a conversation between whom appeared to be the head pirate and the one Emiko had been speaking with, which made Zuko turn his head. Emiko looked as if she wanted to leave and Iroh seemed to be regretting coming in all of a sudden.

"This monk…" Zuko drawled, stepping in front of Emiko subconsciously so as to hide her from the pirates. "Did he have an arrow on his head?"

Emiko's face drained all color, and Iroh shook his head in sadness.

**Emiko**

Zuko let out the tiny boat from the hull again. I was pretty sure that it was called a cutter, but I kind of liked calling it "the tiny boat." He pulled it up next to the Pirate's ship and they sailed parallel with each other while heading upstream, much to the still-injured engine's moaning.

I sighed and leaned on a staff that I'd bought with my own money at the port. We were heading after the Avatar again, that was all I knew. I also knew how well it had gone the last time, so I wasn't too happy. Iroh wouldn't explain to me why we had to go after this poor old Avatar-man, but I wondered if it had anything to do with the reason Zuko wasn't in the Fire Nation. He sure did seem as if he wanted to do this, though, as if it were life and death, so what could I say to it? It wasn't like it was my business anyways.

I felt a presence behind me, and I looked to see that it was the Pirate Captain. _Spirits, he's getting old,_ was my first thought. His pure grey hair was let down around his shoulders, and I could see the wrinkles all over his face. Still, the beady eyes were shadowed by the large hat on his head. "It's a joy to see ye again, Emiko."

_Oh, good Spirits… _I had no idea who he thought he was, or who I thought I was, but I was pretty sure that I'd never given him permission to say my name, nor had I acted as if I'd wanted him to speak to me. I could live an entire life without talking to one of them again.

I turned away from him and gritted my teeth to keep either a scream of fear from coming out, or some kind of yelling. "I didn't know that we were now on a first name basis, Captain. I would rather you call me by my rank."

"I don't think that Barker would like that, darlin'. He's my First Mate now, and he wouldn't be like'n me to call ye that as well."

"Whatever you say, Captain," I mumbled, scooting away from his judging eyes. They still held the disappointment that I had caused, still held the hurt from my leaving. Like he deserved to feel hurt!

I just hadn't been able to take it anymore. I'd been stealing, lying, and cheating for over two years with them, and yet I'd felt nothing. I'd had no conscience, and I'd do anything to anyone as long as I'd gotten what I had needed by the right time.

So finally, I'd put a stop to it. There had been some rough patches between myself and the crew, which is what led them to turn me over to my father for a quick buck.

I was still caught up in memories, feeling very angry and irritated, when Zuko walked up to us. I could tell that it was him without looking because the hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I got even more irritated.

"Should we search the woods?" the Captain asked the former Prince.

Apparently I wasn't good enough to be asked this. An actual ship captain must be asked these questions. Which only made me even more furious. "Sexist pigs…" I muttered under my breath, making Zuko look to me. He only thought about that for a second, and was about to say something, but I interrupted him with a sniped, _"No."_

"And why not?" Zuko asked incredulously, his topaz eyes holding anger. I was a little bit more upset, though, and I wasn't going to let his glare put me down one more time.

Besides, for once, I knew something that he didn't. "They stole a Waterbending scroll, right?"

The Captain nodded, Zuko setting his jaw and becoming irritated.

"Then where do you think they'll be, a volcano?" I asked wryly, using my sarcasm to hid my anger. "No. They'll be on the water,. Get your head in the game or sit down on the bench, because I sure don't need you to find this girl."

The Captain sighed. "Emiko, don't be like that. Just because you traveled with that bounty hunter doesn't mean that—"

I turned angrily to him and glared into his eyes, having to look up. His parrot squawked at me and I hissed back at it, making it chirp in fright and fly away. I turned my attention back to the Captain. "I have more training in this kind of surveillance than you, Captain. If you value your job, I would suggest that you trust me in my assumptions and keep out of my way."

**o~o~o**

At about two in the morning, Iroh decided that I needed rest. He led me to the hull, where I was making my temporary stay, and closed the curtain between the many stacks of boxes separating me from the rest of the storage facility.

"It is time for wrapping again, Emiko," he said sincerely, and he really did look sad that he would have to cause me pain.

I sighed and sat down on my make-shift bed, pulling my shirt over my head and leaning my body over so that he could reach the wound. My breast binder was on, so don't be getting any thoughts in those heads of yours. Besides, neither of us thought that way. He was like my father, and he thought of me as a daughter or even a granddaughter.

"Have we found anything yet?" I asked with a yawn, wincing as the wrap pulled on my waist. Apparently I'd also had bruised ribs, which explained why I always hurt. Apparently bruising hurt almost as bad as breaking, or that was what I heard.

"No," he said off-handedly, laying all of the dirty wrapping to the side. He put on some kind of healing salve, which felt nice but left my entire side numb. "But we will, soon. Until then I want you to rest."

I frowned at this, mumbling to him that I didn't want to rest, no matter that I'd been up for almost two days straight and the moon was making me all sleepy-eyed. He shushed me and kept applying salve and cleaning the wound out. It was kind of gross, my wound, and hopefully it wasn't getting infected. It was, at the moment, a foot-long gash from my belly button to about mid-side of my waist, and the edges were a sickly purple.

"Is there anything you would like to tell me about the Pirates, Emiko?" he asked suddenly as he started wrapping my waist. He wouldn't meet my eyes. "I noticed that you were quite distressed."

I couldn't meet his eyes, either, though. "They're cheating scum, and I can't believe that Zuko is teaming up with them to find this poor old man. I bet that he isn't even the Avatar."

Iroh was now smirking, and I looked to him with confusion in my eyes. "The Avatar is not an old man, child. He is younger than you, in fact!"

I pulled away from Iroh's hands and let the excess cloth fall down and loosen around my waist. "What?"

"It is a miracle, Emiko," he said softly, grasping my arm and sitting me back down. "The Avatar is alive, and young enough to finish his training."

"How young?" I asked incredulously, wondering how we could have lost to someone younger than us. "And how little of training has he had?"

"He has only learned Airbending, from my knowledge. And he must be twelve or thirteen, if that."

I gaped at that for a while, speechless. I really had nothing to say, and the news had made my mind completely wipe clean. Instead I just waited until Uncle was done.

The second my wrapping was finished and Uncle stood up, dusting off his hands, was the second that the boat lurched to a halt. I looked at Uncle with curious eyes. "I take it we've found something?"

He stroked his beard, a certain look in his eyes that I'd seen many-a-time before, though I still didn't know what it meant. "Possibly."

"Well then, lets go!" I exclaimed, standing up a little too fast for my numb side to comprehend. I stumbled back to the bed. "Whoa! Looks like your medicine works a little too well, Uncle."

"You are not going anywhere," he said, giving me that stern look that meant I had to sit down and listen or I wasn't going to like the consequences. He pt a hand on my shoulder and sat me down firmly, keeping me there. "You will sit here and rest. If anything arises, then I will come for you personally. Until then, stay."

As if I were a boar-hound.

But still, I listened and laid down to sleep.

**o~o~o**

I awoke from a deep sleep to a sound that wasn't natural. Well, it wasn't from nature, at least, because this ship made quite a bit of racket. But it didn't belong on the ship, and I knew because I'd been stuck on this ship for at least two weeks.

I slowly sat up, grimacing at the signals my wound was sending to my brain. The medicine had worn off by then. I pulled on the wrap that had come with the nightgown that Uncle had bought me, tying the black sash around my waist so that my wrapping and underwear didn't show.

I peeked open my door, recognizing a familiar smell. "Hello?" I asked to the corridor, so softly that I felt like an idiot. It could have just been a rat for all I knew.

But when the gag was wrapped around my mouth and a large burlap sack was pulled down over my head, I knew that something was wrong. I screamed with all my might, but someone punched me through the side of the burlap sack, hitting my wound. I figured that it wouldn't be a good idea to puke with a gag in my mouth, so I thought that I ought to stop struggling in case they hit me again. Blood was rushing to my head from having been thrown upside down over a shoulder, but I didn't struggle.

_Don't panic. Panicking is bad. Panicking leads to not being able to breathe. Not being able to breathe while gagged in a potato sack is a bad thing._

It was a while before I felt my little trip being stopped. Then, I was flopped down onto soft grass and into the crescent moon's light.

I instantly tore my gag off, preparing to fight. "What is the meaning of this?" I cried, blinking to get my eyes used to the change in light. I noticed that I was in a small clearing, though no one was there but me. "What do you want?"

My heart was pounding fast, adrenaline pulsing through my system. Was it a bad thing that I could feel my heartbeat in my injury? I hoped not. Anyways, my senses were alert and I was ready for a fight. Around my foot I felt a sturdy stick large enough for fighting, and I picked it up.

Barker came out of the shadows to my left and grabbed me, though I couldn't get away in time. He held me to him, making me feel disgusted; I had never like the snake who took my job. "We want you," he whispered in my ear, making me shiver in disgust.

My face screwed up as I tried to pull away, but I was still dizzy from being held upside down for so long. "Let go of me you slimy snake!"

He just held on tighter. "Zhao has raised the bounty on you if we bring you alive. We could bring you dead, but that way we only get half the money." He put his lips on my neck smirked against my skin.

I pulled my arm back and elbowed him good in the stomach to step out of his arms and away a few paces. After I got the feeling of his lips away from me, I was back under control, though he was bent over in pain. "And you think I'll come willingly?" I asked, still a little shaky from the surprise and the vermin lips and hands on me. "Last time you fought dirty. All of you come out here and fight like men!"

A small band of the Captain's pirates came out of the woods, each with a different weapon. Though my training was superior to theirs—and I could only wonder how they thought they could beat me—the odds still made me question how good I was. _Numb-chucks on my left. Injury in the jaw. Spearman on the right. Bow and arrows behind me. Swordsman on both sides. I'm injured. One on five, plus Barker. Cake._

First the numb-chuck guy rushed me. I don't know what I was thinking, I just labeled them by their weapon. Anyways, I pulled my foot up off the ground and kicked him on the side of the face, sending him flat on his butt to stare up in confusion. I knew that it would be too easy, the first ones sent out at me. After that, I'm pretty sure he ran to the forest. I didn't have too much time to pay attention, because there were other people I had to deal with at the moment.

Next the spearman charged me, and, as he reached me, I broke off pieces of the spear shaft with the palms of my hands, feeling splinters imbedding and causing spikes of pain. After the head of the spear had been shorn off, I grabbed what was left of the staff, broke it in half, and then dropped the pieces on the ground. He stared at me, confused, before a disgusted sound came out of my throat and I used my fist to break his nose.

The man with the bow and arrow shot at me from behind. I sensed the arrow, turned, and broke it apart with a dodge and a swipe of my hand as it approached me. He strung another arrow, but first I clutched the head of the first arrow and threw it at him. It hit a hand's width above the archer's hand and passed through the bow to break the string. He didn't stay for long after that, following the other two.

"Cowards!" I cried, clenching my hands into fists, gripping my new staff weapon. "Stand and fight!"

The swordsmen came at me on my left and right, so I jumped up in the air, grabbed onto a branch, and let them run into each other. I bitterly came down on their shoulders, and, grabbing hair on each side of their heads, I slammed them together.

A satisfying crunch accompanied their smashing skulls.

I took a moment to breathe, looking around at the small amount of mayhem I'd caused. It'd been a while since I'd hurt anyone, and it sickened me slightly.

I heard the Captain's applause before I saw him. "Very good, Emiko," the Captain complimented as I swung back to the ground, his men unconscious on the floor. "Barker! You're up."

Barker walked up to stand directly in front of me. "This will be an easy battle." His gaze over me made me want to puke. He was eyeing me as if I were a prize to be taken, like I wasn't a human and only something that he could have to set on a shelf.

I laughed again, this time with disgust. "That's what you think." I clutched my staff tighter, then slammed the hard wood into his head with a loud CLUNK. _Always thought his head was empty. Now I guess I've proven myself right._

Barker's staff flew out of his hands and he looked completely and utterly dazed. But he quickly regained his composure and flipped his spear around in his hands. "Caught me by surprise," he mumbled, smiling to himself. "Won't happen again."

Though, with a quick, piercing jab, the spear flew out of his hands once more. A sly smile adorned my lips. "You were saying?"

He grabbed the spear back, then swung it around with as much force as I would to kill a man five times his size. I parried, though his attack was so strong that I was pushed backwards, my heels digging into the dirt. He attacked once, twice, three times more, and each time I dodged, but I kept getting pushed back.

After a while you don't have anymore room to be pushed back, though, and he swung, but I couldn't take the blunt and I knocked into a tree. His next swing contacted my shoulder, and a hot, roaring pain spread throughout my body.

Instead of feeling the pain, I felt hot, searing fury. It coursed inside me, making me want to kill something with my bare hands.

I subsided with my staff. Grabbing it in the center, I took it and knocked Barker upside the head with both ends. Though, how many times I did so…well, I didn't count, but damn the Abyss if it didn't give him a permanent concussion.

He fell to the ground, unconscious.

I turned towards where the Captain had been and growled with malice, but he was no longer there. "Did you think that I'd go down that easy, Captain?" I yelled out, my scream echoing through the deserted woods. "

I felt his presence behind me and I brought my foot around off the ground in a circular kick. The Captain caught my leg and twisted it behind me, forcing me to the ground. I screamed in pain and protest, biting my tongue to keep the tears inside as my injured arm pulsed with pain. Rope was quickly attached to my arms and feet. He picked me up and tossed me over his shoulder while tears of pain streamed down my face.

But suddenly a commotion somewhere in the woods started up, and the Captain looked back with panic in his eyes.

"Hey, over here!" I cried, my voice cracking. Oh, good, my arm was going numb. I must have been in shock. "I'm over here, guys, help me!" Well, that was the first time I'd asked them for help. Probably the last, too.

Someone burst through the woods, fire behind him darkening him to only a silhouette. But I knew him by shape. He sent a blast of powerful fire out to the Captain's feet, making him drop me to the ground. I cried out in pain.

"Uncle!" I sobbed, wishing that I could clutch my injured arm.

"Yes, Sunshine, I'm here," he whispered, gently caressing the tears from my face. "I'm here…" He started whispering sweet words to me as he untied me. He made a simple splint to take care of my arm, apologizing over and over again. "You will not believe it, Emiko…I found the Lotus Tile." He said this softly, as if to keep my mind from the pain.

"Where at?" I gasped, closing my eyes. He picked me up without hesitation, and I flinched.

"It was in my sleeve the entire time," he said and chuckled softly, and hen he proceeded to tell me about Zuko's cutter, ("ahem", the mini ship) and the Pirate ship being stolen by the Avatar and his friends—whom I still haven't met—and how we were now short one mini ship (or really, was it a cutter?) I tried to smile, but even that hurt. So I stuck with listening to how angry Zuko had gotten about having had the Lotus Tile the entire time.

Speaking of Lotus Tiles, I still had the first Lotus Tile that Uncle gave me. It was in the shirt of my kimono on the inside where a tiny pocket was etched. I always kept it over my heart, just in case. It was my good luck charm. And I guess that it was a good thing that I hadn't had my kimono top on, because as it was, I would need a new wrap for my nightgown.

With the thoughts of the first time I'd met Uncle and our first Pai Sho lesson etched deep into my brain, I could finally sleep peacefully, closing my eyes and smiling as I dug my head into Uncle's chest.

* * *

**Just so you know, you've just read twelve pages! That's a lot of writing, especially since I trashed half of it for being too Mary-Sue-filled. I changed the part where Emiko meets Aang, Sokka, and Katara. That doesn't come in until quite later now, unfortunately. But it will be an adventure, I promise you! **


	6. Midnight Rendezvous

**Hmm…fluff? Yup, fluff! I do enjoy fluff. It makes me very happy, almost as much as smut. That might be why I like this chapter. So, read on!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender, because as it is it is very imaginative, and I am not. Well, not as much as Bryke, anyways. …All hail the Evil Overlords of Viacom!**

* * *

**Midnight Rendezvous**

Ohhh, was I in pain.

Lots-o-lots o pain. And I didn't enjoy pain, let me tell you. It didn't suit me. I whined, I bawled, and I complained to anyone within hearing range. Well, let me tell you that no one was in hearing range so I was moaning to myself. No one really appreciates the characteristic of self-pity until they've whined to themselves for a half an hour.

I felt sick to my stomach, knowing that I needed to move. It took me a while to get up with the large cast around my arm, but somehow I managed. And apparently I was heavily drugged, because I definitely couldn't walk in a straight line, and getting the door open took more than one neuron.

And obviously I didn't realize that the room had a door until I ran into it.

I forced it open anyways, ignoring the pain of my entire body, and set out to the deck. The men I passed looked at me like I was crazy, but I just nudged them out of the way, (or maybe I fell into them, I'm not quite sure, that night was fuzzy,) and kept going.

Finally I made it to the main deck. Clouds covered the half-moon and let me have little light to move around with. I clung to the side of the ship and felt queasy. Then before I realized it, I was spilling my guts into the churning ocean.

I groaned and slumped onto the floor, putting my head against the cool metal. There was nothing in my stomach, so what I vomited was mostly acid. My throat burned, and I felt faint.

At least the metal was cool and comfortable…

Then the ground was lifted out from under me. I didn't know who it was since my eyes were closed, but I had a pretty good idea who owned those muscular arms.

**Zuko**

"G-go away, Zuko. P-put me b-back on the g-ground…" The swaying motion he had while carrying her probably didn't help her uneasy stomach.

It suited her right.

He pulled her arm up around his neck, then situated her legs just right above his forearm, using the other to place behind her back. He'd fallen asleep on the pallet right beneath the bed she had slept on, and she'd stepped on him as she'd drunkenly made her way out the door. And, with her heat making the room unbearably hot, even for a Firebender, there was no way that he was going to wear a shirt in that heat.

So, when being so tired that she laid her head against his chest, that chest was bare. He flinched away from her scalding touch, wanting to hold her further away but kept her close so that he didn't drop her solid form. "I can't believe you," he growled, wishing that she wouldn't cling to him as if it were for dear life. "You leave the room at the most conventional time: when I decided to sleep. I haven't slept in days!"

"W-worried about me, Z-Zuko?" she asked cheekily, laughing at her small joke but groaning from the pain it caused.

"You wish," he growled back.

She dug her face into the muscular confines of his chest, making him shiver from their completely polar temperatures. She was soft, though, and goose bumps rose where she breathed on his skin. "Don't make me p-puke on you."

He sighed and opened the door leading down to her cabin. "Even half dead, you still have a mouth…we'll have to deal with that later."

"I'd like to see you try," she mumbled into his skin, and he felt her smile.

Zuko shivered from her breath. His arms instinctively tightened, and she let out a short gasp of breath. "Sorry," he muttered, awkwardly shifting her in his arms and accidentally touching something that shouldn't have been touched.

"Zuko," she mumbled against his neck, and he thought that she was going to chastise him, but she didn't. "How…how long was I out?"

"Two days."

She brushed her nose along his collarbone as he kicked open the door to her room. "Mmm…" she mumbled before letting out a small puff of air. "Do you know that you smell like a fire…? A really good fire."

He gently laid her down on the bed. "Those painkillers take a total on your mind." He moved to the head of the bed and poured a tin cup full of pitcher water. Sitting down on the bed, he lifted her head up as if it were fragile, and then cool metal was at her lips.

She tried to gulp it all the way down the second it did.

"Don't drink too fast," he said harshly, pulling it away from her lips. "You'll get sick."

She snatched the cup from his hands, gargled the water to get the disgusting taste out of her mouth from puking, and then spit it into the cup.

Zuko looked at her dryly but rolled his eyes, grabbed the cup, and set it on her nightstand, and got up from the edge of the bed. He moved to leave, but she caught his hand in her good one and held onto it as tight as she could. "Huh-uh…" she sighed, her eyes slightly panicked. "Don't leave. I…I might need your help."

Zuko looked at her with uncertainty, wanting to stay but knowing that he couldn't. And he couldn't believe that she had just admitted that she might possibly need his help. "Emiko, you're on painkillers. You aren't thinking straight."

"No, maybe not…that's okay, though. Sit. Stay."

"I'm not going anywhere," he said, motioning to the pallet beneath her bed. "I'm going to be right here." Though why he was there, he wasn't sure. Perhaps it had been the make-you-feel-guilty look that Iroh had given him, or the actual order to stay by her bedside. Or the fact that she really was hurt, and he was feeling guilty for the way he had always treated her?

Whatever it was, his guilt doubled when she looked at him sadness etched into her face.

Her bright eyes looked hesitant, but she allowed him to have his hand back and let him sit down on his pallet. She maneuvered herself to where her injured arm was on her hip, and she was looking down at him from her bed. For someone who was completely drugged up, her eyes were intelligent.

Emiko brought the arm underneath her up to place her hand beneath her head. "Zuko? Could I ask you a question?" Her words weren't _completely_ slurred.

_No_, his grumpy, no-sleep-for-the-past-three-days side said as he settled down on his pallet instead of his bed, which this…this _girl_ was sleeping in! But instead he growled out, "What?"

It took her a moment to answer, and he thought that maybe she fell asleep. She hadn't, though, and he turned over to see her staring right at him. "I was wondering… why are you even bothering with me?"

Well, there you have it. The question he'd been asking himself since the beginning, when she had dropped into his arms against his will. Well, Iroh had kind of dropped her there, with the blood still fresh on her, but he tried not to think of that at the moment. "I…"

"I mean, you don't have to answer, but you didn't have to listen to Uncle's plea to keep me," she said softly, and when he looked to her face, it was downcast. "I'm not the easiest person to deal with. And technically neither are you. But I've been trying. All you've done, though, is push me away. What can I do to…I don't know, change your opinion of me?"

Wow. That was the most that he'd ever heard her speak at one time, and to tell you the truth, her voice was very hypnotic. He almost couldn't answer, but he heard her shifting on the bed. It was then that he felt soft, warm lips on his forehead.

"Thanks anyways," she whispered softly, and if he could have seen her face, he knew that she was smiling. He heard her shift up to lay on the bed again and a groan of pain as she moved her injured arm too much. He wanted to help, but there was really nothing that he could do. "You really are a good guy. And I know that something must have happened in your past that you aren't comfortable with, but I don't judge you for that. I really don't. So…night." She turned over with the rustling of sheets until all he heard was deep, even breathing.

Had Emiko just…_thanked_ him?

* * *

**Soooo…hmm. Short chapter, I know. Apologies. **


	7. The Storm: Part I

**During part one, there is a small bit of tension among the ranks, and Emiko is furious with the way the crew treats Zuko, as well as the opposite! Also, for some reason, she thinks he is purposefully avoiding her… AND, you get a look at Emiko's mother, and perhaps what happened to her? Or maybe not. At least you get a look, don't be picky!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender. If I did, it would be a musical. Or something like that, anyways.**

* * *

**The Storm  
****Part I**

It was a beautiful day out…not a cloud in the sky. Something told me to look behind the peacefulness, making me nervous. Still, I took advantage of it and walked outside in my Fire Nation garb: the red-with-black-accents, high-collared, sleeveless tunic with those baggy pants that cinched at the ankles. Personally I didn't like it, but Uncle preferred me in it, so hey, what could I do?

I hoped that today would be nice. It would make me feel better, at least. I knew what was on my calendar and I hoped that everything went nice and smooth, without any fighting or yelling or blaming or…well, I waned a peaceful day.

Zuko was at his telescope, being all moody since our heart-to-heart last week, (which was a little blurry from the painkillers,) and Uncle was helping me stretch out my wounds. We flowed through the basic Firebending moves that had quickly come back to me. I smiled as the familiar moves stretched some old muscles that hadn't been used in a while. We weren't using fire. He knew how I felt about bending. Besides, I didn't need the crew on me because I hadn't been helping them with bending duty.

"Breathe, Emiko," he said in a fatherly tone, his eyes crinkling in the same light. "In, out..."

I did as he said and stepped my leg out and punched out an arm, spreading my fingers, pretending to see a bright flame flying out of my fist…

And at first it actually flew out, and I quickly extinguished it by falling to the floor. That was when one fat raindrop hit me right on the forehead. I looked around to make sure that no one had seen the flame which, thank Agni, they hadn't.

Another raindrop hit and I cowered. _No! Not tonight! Why tonight?_

I covered my head with my hands protectively. Uncle was soon by my side, and he placed a protective hand on my back, asking, "Sunshine, what is wrong?"

I made myself look up meekly, trying to watch for any more raindrops. "There's a storm coming." The wispy, nonexistent clouds above us didn't help prove my statement and I cursed them.

"A big one," Iroh said, nodding in agreement. Well, at least he agreed, anyways.

Zuko turned away from his telescope, and, for the first time since our little 'damsel in distress' situation the other night, he started talking to me. "You're out of your mind, Emiko. The weather's perfect. There's not a cloud in the sky."

I looked closer at his eyes, which had dark bags underneath them. This meant that he still hadn't gotten any sleep. I shivered when I thought of what no sleep did to his temper. Still, the other night he hadn't gone off on me like I was sure he wanted to. Perhaps he _did_ know how to control his temper.

Uncle pulled me up and looked at me worriedly. "Are you cold?" He tried to put a wool blanket over my back for some reason.

My eyes rolled upwards and I gently declined the blanket he was handing me. He was afraid that I would get sick from my injuries, but I hadn't been sick in a long time. "I'm fine. Anyways, the storm is coming from the north." Don't ask how I knew, I just did, and it was kind of freaking me out that I knew it. "I think we should head southwest just to be safe." Mm. I hated storms more than I hated being sick or injured. They just didn't suit me.

Zuko turned back to his telescope. "The Avatar is heading northward, so we will do the same," he said decisively. I saw that his jaw was set tightly and a large vein was popped out on his neck. _Huh_. That must happen every time he became angry. I'd probably ought to watch for it.

I moved behind him and gently put my hand on Zuko's shoulder, which tensed as soon as my warmth touched his cool. "Consider the safety of the crew, Zuko. A storm this big might—"

Suddenly his rage was forced upon me and I knew that I had popped his bubble of "no sleep." He grabbed the top of my arms fiercely, probably leaving bruises with the strength he used. I flinched as his hand squeezed my injured arm with too much force. "The safety of the crew doesn't _matter!"_ he cried, shaking me ever so slightly. I'd never seen that look in his eyes, the crazed, wild look. I'd seen it in my father's eyes, but not Zuko's.

My eyes had to be full of horror, but Zuko didn't recognize it. Zuko's first mate—Lieutenant Jee—did, though, as he walked past and overheard Zuko's remark. Needless to say that he wasn't happy about it.

Zuko realized this, and let go of me with a push. I stumbled back wards, feeling very…well, I felt kind of frightened of him now. He walked over to the first mate and got into his face. "Finding the Avatar is more important than any individual's safety," he growled before he stormed into the ship and slammed the hatch shut behind him.

I sorely rubbed my arms where Zuko held onto me and looked longingly at the door where Zuko had left. Something more is wrong than this. But that doesn't excuse his behavior.

"He doesn't mean that, Jee," Iroh said, trying to convince himself more than the angered first mate. He put a hand on my face like a mother hen hog checking on her brood. "Are you alright?"

"He's just all worked up, and I know he has to be tired," I mumbled bitterly, turning my eyes away from him. He'd only stayed up almost a week straight, making sure that I hadn't tried to get up and hurt myself. He'd let me use his room, so that I'd been more comfortable. "He's not all that bad."

Well, I kept trying to tell myself that as I looked down to the hand-sized bruise on my arm. _So much for my perfect day._

**o~o~o**

I sat on the tip of the front of the boat. Was it the prow? I thought so, but I wasn't going to ask. My mood was slowly dimming. My arm and side hurt and I couldn't take any more painkillers until that night. My mood was like the sky. Clear? No! I was so down in the muck that I could have been a leech.

Ominous black clouds were coming from the north, and they were heading straight for us. …And may I just say that I wasn't in that good of a mood with all of that coming towards me. It seemed to suit my mood.

Lieutenant Jee, three other soldiers, Prince Zuko, Uncle, and I were the only ones on deck. All of us were looking at the clouds. I tried to ignore Zuko, though, because I still hadn't forgiven him for handling me like that that morning, even if he had helped me the past week.

Someone nudged me with their elbow, making me almost lose my balance since I was concentrating on the clouds, and I let out a sharp cry before Uncle caught a hold of me. It had been Jee, I could tell by his laugh.

I growled at Jee, but he just laughed. "Looks like you were right, girl," he told me, a little bit of evil and mock hidden in his damn hazel eyes.

"Hmph…" I growled, my heartbeat slowing down from my almost fall into death. (Or at least that's what I thought it was, at the time.) Water + me = dead Emiko. "Lucky guess, I suppose."

Zuko crossed in front of me and knocked me right into Uncle. He once again ignored me and got into Jee's face, poking the much-taller Lieutenant in the chest. "Lieutenant, you'd better learn some respect, or I'll teach it to you." And then he simply walked away.

My anger bubbled, but I stayed in one place. _Lets go kill the bastard!_ my wild-child brain was yelling, pretty much foaming at the mouth. _Oh,_ my other side sighed, _he's just tired is all. Poor Prince._

_Poor Prince my ass,_ I growled to both of them, and my wild-child side got a little happier at that.

So that was when Jee went up to him. Beside me, Uncle was making decapitation motions with his hand, trying to head off the conflict. But that wouldn't work. Hell, I would have paid money to see this. Oh well, I got it for free, and my wild-child was raring for conflict.

"What do you know about respect?" Jee asked the Prince, putting one hand on the Prince's shoulder. "The way you talk to everyone here, from your hard working crew, to your esteemed Uncle, to your _girlfriend_, shows that you know nothing about respect."

Zuko stopped in his tracks and I could almost see the steam coming from him. His fists were clenched tight so that his knuckles were white, his jaw was clenched tight enough to break teeth, and that vein in his neck was sticking out very far.

Yup. He was angry.

Wait a second. _Girlfriend?_

"You don't care about anyone but yourself!" Jee continued, his face becoming red under the brown monkey beard he sported. "Then again, what should I expect from a spoiled _prince_?"

_GIRLFRIEND_?

Uncle sighed and put his hand over his face, resigning himself to the conflict. For once I didn't agree with Uncle, and I wanted the conflict to happen. Someone needed to put Zuko in his place. Not that I wanted him hurt, just a little roughed up. But with Firebenders, there was no such thing as "roughed up."

Zuko's eyebrow started to twitch. His shoulders were tense, and my good-Emiko side wanted to do something to relax him, but the wild child in me made me very, very happy at the moment. Then, though, Zuko turned and assumed a Firebending stance. It felt like a bucket of water had been doused over my wild child.

Especially when the Lieutenant followed suit.

This made me nervous to where I started gnawing on my lower lip, but I didn't get involved. This would be over with sooner or later; Iroh wouldn't let it continue, I knew it. Because people got hurt during Agni Kais. And if Uncle didn't stop it, then somehow I could, right?

That was all it had to take, right?

"Easy now…" Uncle said, putting his hands up while the two advanced.

Zuko and the Lieutenant crossed arms at the wrist. A metal sound came from the touch, while smoke curled from their hands.

When they didn't listen to Iroh was when I decided to go into action. I got up from my spot and crossed over to where Zuko and Jee were. "Enough," I growled as I broke apart their hands. I put a finger on Jee's chest, which made him look down on me like I was a parasite.

"First thing's first—this is _Zuko's_ ship," I threatened, hoping that my glare pushed my meaning through. I really hadn't rehearsed what I was about to say, but it kind of felt like it. "He's the Captain here, and you need to respect that. You wouldn't have signed up if you didn't want the job. Number two—there is no use in _fighting_. People just get hurt."_ No!_ my wild-child side yelled, becoming fidgety, _Let them fight! _While my good side was saying, _Yes, good job, Emiko!_ It was like a Koh versus Sun Goddess duel, one on each of my shoulders. "And three—I'm not Zuko's _girlfriend_!" It made me think of the time that my father had captured me at Roku's temple, and that only made me angrier.

So then I turned on my heels and faced Zuko with an ice-dagger glare. "Oh, you don't want to hear the earful I'm about to give _you_."

The other men on board all took a step back.

"Zuko, you just destroyed a beautiful afternoon! I just wanted to get through one day without having someone fight…and you ruined that. I know that you've been stressed, great, relax for a while, take a break! But don't take it out on your crew. Take it out on me for all I care! Just don't you ever let me catch you taking it on Uncle, because as far as I know, he's given up his life in the Fire Nation just to be with you and keep you on the right path!"

Zuko was staring at me with horror, as if I someone had just slapped him in the face. Well, more like _I _had just slapped him in the face.

"Damn girl!" Jee cried as he grabbed my shoulder and shoved me to the side. I stumbled, but caught myself before my own two feet could trip me up and make me land face first into the cold, hard metal. "Stay out of a men's battle!"

"You," I growled through clenched teeth, "are nothing but a disgusting little boy who has to sink so low as to lay hands on a female just to feel like a man. Well then, damn it, if you want to have a battle, man or no man, I'll give you a battle!" I instantly put my hand up and went into a Firebending stance. It didn't matter that my arm or my waist was hurt. It mattered that I was sick of the way this crew was run and the way they talked back to their leading officer. I'd lived on the boat for over a month and a half now, but all I'd ever seen was tension among the ranks.

It needed to be fixed, and I was going to fix it.

Jee was about to do the same as me and get into a Firebending stance, but his face went to confusion, anger still masked in his eyes. "You're a Firebender?" he sneered, looking me up and down mockingly.

Yes. Yes I was. Not that they'd ever needed to know. Most people didn't know this little fact, and I had wanted to keep it that way. "Just get in the position," I said softly, my eyes narrowing. I felt the steam of my chi building, and I let it exit through my nose. It released some anger, at least. I would feel so much better after this was over.

His eyes were completely confused, but as he remembered his anger, he narrowed them and put his hand up to fight. "Alright. I'll go along with this. But I won't back down."

Iroh came to me and placed both hands on my shoulders, trying to pull me away. "Come now, Sunshine. There's no need in senseless fighting."

"This isn't senseless, Uncle!" I cried, throwing his hands off my shoulders. "I'm sick and tired of Jee trying to run this ship like a slaver and mock the Captain's word, even if I don't agree with him half the time. I won't stand for this. It's practically mutiny."

He was pleading now. "Emiko…"

"No, Uncle," I whispered as I glared at the First Mate. "I need to take care of this myself."

Jee narrowed his eyes to slits, fire seeming to come out of his mud-colored eyes. "And what do you expect to gain from this?" he wanted to know, his tone a growl.

"Respect," I growled back, gaining myself a hardy laugh around the group of crew that had surrounded us. "I want respect, from you all! And Spirits damn it if they don't want it from you, Zuko." He jumped, as if he hadn't been expecting me to add him into this.

"Respect? For a girl?" some kind of mechanic named Xing, asked slyly, his lip up in a sneer. "Like you could ever gain any respect."

"We'll see," I growled as I balled a fist and pulled it above my head, my arm at a ninety degree angle. My other arm was straight out, my hand palm up. "Get ready to dance, Jee."

Jee ground his teeth together and spread his legs, one arm in a fist and a ninety degree angle to the side instead of over his head, and his other arm the same as mine. "I'm ready when you are, girl."

Right when I was about to throw my arm out into the punch where I would show them my Firebending, Uncle Iroh grabbed my good arm and flung it behind my back. He quickly did the same with Jee, and then we were both pushed against the railing of the ship.

"Enough," he said coolly, his eyes a mask of fury. "I've had enough of your childish rabble. Both of you to your quarters, now."

"But Iroh—" he protested, getting a push harder against the wall.

Iroh released both of us with a small push. I rubbed my arm sorely and glared at the First Mate. "Yes, _Uncle_," I muttered irritably before I stalked off. Jee didn't even bother to say anything, he just stormed off.

"Oh, children…" I heard Iroh sigh before I shut the door that led down to my quarters.

I went down into the hull where my makeshift room was. The crew made it out of cargo boxes, so whenever we stopped to load new cargo and take old off, I had a hole in the side of my room. At the moment I had complete privacy, though, and I shoved aside the curtain acting as my door.

How could he not side with me? I wondered, sitting down at the mahogany desk that he had given me and putting my head in my hands. _He should have sided with me! This mutiny needs to stop, and if someone doesn't step up, Zuko will be without a Fire Nation crew and with a group of scallywags that he trusts even less, like the Pirates!_

Just thinking about them made me stop thinking to listen, making sure that no one was in my hull. I was so sick of being scared, that someone from around any corner would come pick me up at any moment and carry me away like before. Well, now I also had a bad arm, so whoop-di-doo, it was twice as easy to just snatch me up and take me away, the crew none the wiser.

Not that most of them would care. _What did I ever do to them?_

I sighed and willed for the day to be better, but I knew it would only keep getting worse. So, before that could happen, I looked at the only picture I had ever owned. It was sitting on my desk in a simple wooden frame. Topaz Fire Nation eyes looked back at me, as well as long, thin black hair. The occupant was smiling coyly with wide, thin lips, as if she knew something that I didn't, and one eyebrow was raised on a tall forehead.

Why had anyone ever confused us in the past? She was so beautiful, and I was so…plain.

Wiping a tear from my eye, I smiled at the picture and pulled it over to sit it behind some incense, lighting them on fire to produce Mom's favorite smell, cinnamon. I had lit it with my Firebending.

The light that illuminated me was not yellow or orange or even red. No, my fire was white. I'd never asked questions, because my mom's fire had been white too. I'd never thought it strange in the least, and neither had she. It wasn't until recently that it was completely white, though, and I looked at it with confusion.

As a child, my fire had been normal. Well, orange, like all the other children's, at least. I'd progressed at a normal pace, maybe a slight bit faster than most children, and mother and father had both taught me. Mostly mother, though, and she'd always been so proud. Jasmine and Ryuu had both helped too, but father paid more attention to them, and by then Jasmine had been old enough to go to the Fire Nation Academy for Girls, so off she went. And Ryuu had been preparing for the military since he was a child.

I remembered the day that we had gone to get separate portraits. Mother insisted of keeping all three of her children's pictures with her every day, no matter if she was at home or teaching children at the Firebending Academy in town. Father had secretly kept all of our pictures as well, but he had never admitted it. I remembered finding out, and the sweet feeling of love that I'd felt when I'd run over to hug him. He'd asked why the sudden hug, and I'd just told him that I'd loved him.

The happy memories of my mother, of my brother and sister, of my father, before mother had died…it made me very happy indeed. So the tears I cried weren't of sadness, but of joy, and I wished that my family could still somehow be together.

But they weren't.

So, on that wonderfully happy note, I kissed my fingers, putting them to my mother's in the picture. "I love you, Momma. Happy birthday."

**Jee**

Jee grumbled and tore off a piece of his leftover food from Cook. He tried to warm his hands by the fire, but nothing at that moment could get the chill from his bones. The rain outside made the waters churn, making the boat rock nauseously, making him wonder if he actually even wanted his food. He decided that he did anyways and ate it, though the cool air that ran through the room still didn't help. All he needed was to find the hatred towards Emiko he held and he could probably be warm.

"Anyone ever notice how Miss Emiko never has to do any work around here?" Jee's right hand man, Xing, asked as he stared angrily into the fire.

"Aye," an older member agreed with a nod. "And she walks around behind Iroh as if no harm could ever come to her! He spoils her as if she is his own daughter for Agni's sake! What a pampered little brat."

Many men agreed to this, adding one comment here and there about her, their irritated aura feeding the fire until it blazed and the entire room was as warm as the tropics in the Fire Nation.

But one statement caught all of their attention. "And in the last month that she's been with us, she's never been out in the rain." This man was more burly and dangerous looking, but everyone knew that he had a soft spot for the girl's beauty and charm.

In truth, they all did. During the long trips out to sea, they appreciated something nice to look at. Some of them loved her cooking or her Pai Sho. (Well, maybe not how they lost to her Pai Sho, but they enjoyed playing with her.)

But there was something about her that rubbed all of them wrong.

"In fact…" Xing mumbled as he rubbed his chin, "she seems almost afraid of it…"

This snapped Jee out of his stupor. "Wait, Xing, say that again."

The younger man cocked his head to the side. "What, that she seems afraid of the rain?"

Things finally connected in the Lieutenant's mind. It all made sense, somehow, the jumble of thoughts connecting. He looked back through this morning, through the Pirates incident, and when they had first gotten her dropped into their laps, and he smiled wickedly.

Their little Emiko was afraid of water.

**Emiko**

As I lay in my bed, today's events jumbling in my head too much to sleep, I placed my hands behind my head and gazed up at the ceiling. I could hear the rain outside hitting the metal deck, _ping, ping, ping._ The rough waves beneath us should have made me want to puke, but I was fine now that I'd finally gotten my sea legs.

Oh, man, there was so, so much to think about. Like, why had I attacked Jee like that? Now that I looked back on it, it was actually one of the worst things I could've done. Especially today of all days.

I could feel my mother's eyes glaring at me from the Spirit World, which made me close my eyes and mumble an apology under my breath. She was right. I was wrong.

She was _always_ right.

She'd always taught me to respect someone's opinion, even if you knew one hundred percent that they were wrong. If she were alive now, I knew that she would be very disappointed in me. She might have even given me the cold shoulder for a while.

I pulled the cover up over my chest and shivered. Maybe I was right in one thing: she was here, and her presence was trying to tell me something. Like, "You know better, be a good girl, listen to Iroh and be nice to Zuko."

_Well, mom, I've tried that. Now I have bruises to show for it._

My eyes closed, and the peaceful lull of sleep came over me. I knew my mother was in the room, watching over me. When I let her protect me, I knew nothing could happen…

_Nothing…_

Suddenly a hand was thrown over my mouth, a whiskered mouth up against my ear. "Shhh…" he whispered into my ear as I tried to scream. "Shhh…"

**Iroh**

Iroh awoke suddenly when a muffled scream reached his ears. There was something going on right outside his door. Something was scratching against the metal of his door, then was ripped away.

Smoke came in through the crack below it.

He threw himself out of the bed and looked both ways up the corridor, only to see that there were in fact scratch marks all along the walls, melted metal all along the hallway.

He followed his way up to the deck, where finally he heard more of the struggle. Standing in the dark of the wet hallway was half of the crew, but they weren't alone—they were holding something.

That something let out another scream, and then suddenly there was a loud smacking noise. There was a whimper, and then it was quiet.

"Now throw her out in the rain, damn it, or you'll get extra cleaning duty for a week!" a voice called whom he thought was Jee's.

Suddenly the thing moved again, this time rapidly, struggling and fighting and crying as well. "No!" Emiko's voice cried, making him widen his eyes, set his jaw, and clench his fists. "Please, please don't throw me out there!"

"…It's a typhoon out there, Jee. She was the one to figure out that it was coming," one of the older men mumbled. "We've already frightened her. Maybe we should…"

"Throw her to the sharks!" Xing cried, raising his fist in the air.

"NO!" Emiko cried, her voice a sob.

They grabbed the sides of her arms and, against her struggling and cries of defeat, threw her out into the rain. And in the dry they waited, watching her, expecting something to happen.

But all they got to do was see a little girl cry.

She sat there, her legs spread apart as she sat on the floor, her lower lip trembling, her hands moving to cover her eyes, and then she shuddered. Not from the cold, Iroh knew, but from the shame and humiliation.

Iroh felt so much in those few moments that he wasn't sure exactly what the emotions were. Fury, yes. Pity, of course. And shame. Very, very much he felt shame.

"Now lets get her," Xing growled menacingly. He started moving, but the others all stayed on the side. He stopped and looked at them. "Hey, what're you guys waiting for? This was your idea too."

The big, burly man, named Gizmo for his technical ability, rubbed the back of his head and shrugged as if he really didn't know what to do. "I didn't want to make her cry…"

Emiko sobbed again, her body wracking now as the rain hit her and seemed to evaporate. Her hair was soaked until saturation, making it look almost grey in the dimming light. The thin, small night slip she was wearing was soaked through and through, making her look even more pitiful.

"…I hope you're happy with yourselves," Iroh said to them, making every last crew member jump and spin around in fight. They stared at him, wide-eyed. "Taking a child out into the cold, freezing rain against her will. What did you expect to see?"

"Well…" Xing mumbled, his hand behind his head and his face on fire. He came up with no answer, though.

"Did you think she would melt?" Iroh asked of them, not glaring, not angry, just staring each and every one of them into the eyes to spark fear into the very pits of their miserable souls. "Did you think she would turn into something other than the fifteen-year-old girl that you've all come to know in the past month and a half?"

"We were teaching her a lesson," Jee mumbled as he glared out at her. "And I'm not exactly finished." He pushed the others out of the way and stormed out to her.

She didn't even bother looking at him. Her arms were wrapped around her pulled up legs, her eyes to her knees as she rocked back and forth in place. If Iroh knew better, her eyes were clenched shut and tears were running down her face. He couldn't tell, though because of the rain drenching her.

The Lieutenant reached out to grab her, but she screamed and stopped rocking, her body shivering.

"That is quite enough," Iroh growled from behind him. He wasn't going to let anyone hurt her. Yes, she might have needed to cool down after this morning, but as far as he knew, she had already made her peace. "I don't blame you for wanting to teach Emiko a lesson, but Jee, so help me Spirits if you even touch her—"

The Lieutenant's face grew very grave. "General Iroh, please forgive me. I had no idea that…"

"No, you didn't," Zuko growled from right beside him, startling even Iroh. The Prince was in his night clothing, apparently having awakened like the old General. "You weren't thinking. You put your anger out on this girl and what do you expect to get?"

"I wasn't wanting her to cry," Jee growled as he stared down at his captain. "And this isn't a matter of the captain. This is between the girl and me!"

Emiko shuddered and cried out once more, now on her side, her hair plastered against her face. "Momma," she mumbled in pain, her agony so deep that none of the men there would ever feel what she was feeling at that moment. "Oh, Momma, I'm so sorry…"

Zuko bent down and sat her up, gently cradling her head. Iroh had never seen the Prince being gentle with any living creatures, so he watched with interest as his nephew gently picked the girl up, whispering comforting things to her. She only clung to him and kept mumbling the same thing over and over again. It got muffled into the Prince's neck and chest.

"Take her to her quarters, my nephew," Iroh whispered solemnly. "The rest of you," he called to the men, raising his voice, making them jump, "get back to your stations and quarters. I still expect the midnight watch, even in this weather. I am deeply ashamed."

The men dispersed unwillingly, their eyes downcast, their spirits dashed. Even Jee, who was the head of the whole charade, looked away and walked back to the men's quarters.

"Is she going to be alright?" Zuko asked through his teeth, his anger apparent as he held her, one arm under her knees and the other under her shoulders.

Iroh sighed and gently placed a kiss on her chilled forehead. "…I don't know, Prince Zuko. I don't know. Today is hard for her."

The Prince started walking away, General Iroh following beside him. "And why is that, Uncle?" he asked as Emiko's slight breathing came to his ears; she was asleep. Iroh thought that she looked like her mother at the moment, or perhaps as she looked like a small child. Or both, possibly.

Did Iroh really want to say? Did he really want to bring his nephew into Emiko's unforgiving past? "Well, my nephew…"

"Mo-o-omma-a…" Emiko sobbed in her sleep, clutching Zuko's neck harder and pushing her face into his chest. For the first time since Zuko had met her, Emiko was crying. The wet tears slid down his chest. Even they seemed to burn his bare skin, and Iroh knew that his nephew was asking many, many questions in his head.

He stopped in his tracks and looked down on her, wiping the liquid from her eyes. It appeared milky as Iroh observed it in the dim lighting of the hall. It tinted red when it dripped from his fingers, and he mumbled, "Ow," as it singed his finger slightly.

"Ah, the Tears of the Tearless…" Iroh mumbled as he used his thumb to wipe them away. Even he flinched from the small burning. "Strange, how these things work out…"

"What is today that would turn her into this?" the Prince asked, looking down upon her, and Iroh wondered what his nephew saw in her that turned his eyes curious, that made him hold her so gently, that let him care.

"Today…is her mother's birthday." Iroh waited for a reply, but Zuko just nodded and kept walking. "Is there nothing for you to say?" the old General asked, now that Zuko wasn't looking at her anymore.

Zuko shrugged, his eyes distant. "What is there to say? My crew is close to mutiny, and all I need is this girl trying to set things right."

Iroh sighed, shaking his head. _Why can't he see?_ he wondered as Zuko pushed aside the makeshift door to Emiko's room.

The Prince gently laid her on her bed, sliding his arms out and away from her slowly, as not to rouse her. "Should we do something before leaving?" he asked, stepping away.

Iroh shook his head. "I'm not leaving."

"What?"

"I said that I am not leaving," he repeated, sitting down next to her. He picked up the brush she kept beside her bed on a nightstand and gently laid out her long, wet hair around her head. "She needs someone to stay with her through this night. I should've recognized it earlier, but I was ignorant. My bones were weary from the oncoming of the storm. But now, I can see what this day means to her, and I'm going to sit beside her through the night and help her get through it all."

Zuko looked at his Uncle as if he were growing an extra head next to the one he already had. "What does this girl mean to you, Uncle?"

Iroh sighed and shook his head, taking the brush to her saturated hair and brushing it in long, thick strokes. "It is a long story, my nephew, one that will take longer than one night to explain fully. Over time you will learn, but until that time comes, you will just have to trust me."

The Prince had a tick in his jaw that he got whenever he became angry, and he had his fists clenched. With a curt nod, though, he turned and left the room with quick strides.

Iroh sighed and gently caressed Emiko's cheek, wondering what was going on in her head. She was restless, he noticed, and strangely cold. "What…?" He placed a palm on her forehead, and felt that it was just as cold as the hair which he was holding.

A cough suddenly wracked her body before she shivered.

"Zuko! Get me blankets and as much firewood as you can." _Emiko is sick._

* * *

**Onward, my faithful readers, onward!**


	8. The Storm: Part II

**In this chapter, Emiko gets to know the helmsman a little, and Emiko realizes something from her past. Zuko is suddenly struck by a new turn of emotions, and Emiko's heart "**fluttered faster, my breathing hitching.**" Read on, if you dare(;**

**OH! Try reading the end of this while listening to "Blue Sky" by Emily West. It is sooo perfect. I might recommend it for a later chapter as well, but the song is just so beautiful, I had to share it with everyone!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender. I've said it before, I'm but a poor, penniless teenager. I even work at a bookstore, man, who gets paid all that much for working at a _bookstore_?**

* * *

**The Storm: Part II**

The storm raged. And I couldn't sleep.

I sat in my room through the two days, praying for sun, not getting answered. Once, during the middle of the night, I awoke to sense that it was calming down, but I was so very, very wrong.

"Emiko, are you alright?" Iroh asked next to me, placing another rag on my forehead. He smoothed out my hair, smiling down on me, though I could tell that he was forcing it. He'd spent both days by my side, in the hull, where the worst of the waves affected us. And he'd said nothing about it at all, he never complained.

"…I'm fine, Uncle," I whispered to him, closing my eyes. Talking made my head hurt, and my throat was dry, too. If the rain didn't let up soon, though, things might have taken a turn for the worst. "I mean…I'll _be _fine."

"What do you mean by that?" He held out a cup to my lips, but I really couldn't tell what was in it. When I didn't lean forwards to take it, he sighed and pulled it back.

"I'll be fine, really, Uncle," I whispered, giving him a weak smile. He looked exhausted, and I felt very, very guilty. I tried to sit up, to show him that I would be fine, but my breath was suddenly pulled out of me. I collapsed back to the bed and whimpered so pathetically that as I look back on it now, it was pretty bad, even for me.

"Don't overexert yourself," he told me quickly, laying me on the pillow exactly where I'd be comfortable. "Just…rest."

"I don't like this, Uncle," I told him, practically whining. _I don't like this at all_. (I told you, I'm a horrible patient.) "I hate being so weak. I hate it that the other men can hold their strength above my head."

He placed a hand on mine, and I noticed that he was warmer than I was, which was probably a bad thing, but I couldn't concentrate on that. "Sunshine, you must see that you are _small_. You are not just a woman, but a _small_ one."

"That's the problem!"

"No, no," he quickly said, "you are not weak. Far beyond that, actually. You are just more compact. Your body can't take as much as their's can."

"_Exactly_!"

He interrupted me again, that stern, I-have-raised-you-better-than-this look on his face. "Don't tell me that you are going to let them win. Don't tell me that you will give up!"

"I'm…not giving up," I ground through my teeth, my hands clenching. I couldn't let them win. I couldn't back down, give up. "If they think that, then they are _dead wrong_. They think my Firebending is _dancing_. They think my fighting is mediocre. And they think that they can push me around…" A cough caught me off guard. It wracked my body to where I had to turn and ball up on my side.

"Emiko…my sweet, sweet Sunshine…you must understand that you are only fifteen—"

"I'll be sixteen in a few months," I growled, wishing that it weren't true, but it was. "And damn it, as soon as that happens they're all in for an Abyss of a time."

"You cannot let them get to you!" he half-shouted at me, with a quiet intensity that made me stop and stare at him. "They are a bunch of sailors, men that don't know the meaning of respect and honor."

"If they were on any other ship they would've been hung already. Maybe even keel-hauled if I would have had anything to say about it," I told him furiously, feeling my chi rise up, although I didn't have any energy for I so nothing really happened. "But know what? On this ship I am dirt. In fact, I am _lower_ than dirt. So I get no say in _anything_."

"That isn't true, Emiko… If you'd only use fact instead of force, the men might _listen_."

I turned my head from him, felt the tears welling in my eyes. "…_Zuko _wouldn't."

For a moment, Iroh didn't answer. When I turned to look at him, he had a look on his face that told me that I was right. "Well…"

"I'm right, and from the way you look then you know it too. He hates me, Uncle. I can tell, and there is no way of going around it." I turned over onto my side, trying to get away from him and his looks, but I knew that I was right.

And from the way Iroh glanced around helplessly, I knew that he could tell too.

_**Later…**_

A snore, a whistle.

A snore, a whistle.

Giving out a sigh, I flopped over on my bed. I could hear the roar of the sea as it tossed around the boat. I almost felt as if I could throw up what little dinner Uncle could pour down my throat, but that would cause too much energy to be drained. I was so lazy that I wouldn't throw up, how bad was that?

He was sitting near the door, his snore giving me almost a headache. I knew that as long as he was sitting there, I wouldn't be able to sleep. Not that I could with the storm raging, anyways.

So finally I sat up and let my feet hit the floor for the first time in two days. Colors swirled before my eyes, but I really needed to get up.

Gritting my teeth, I forced myself up and held onto the pole sticking out of the middle of my room. For once I was grateful for it; usually I just ran into it whenever I was tired and tried to find my bed in the dark.

I took a step, then another, and then I stumbled to the door. I clutched onto it, and then I turned and almost fell down the hall. When I made it to stairs, I tried to walk up them but ended up crawling. I really didn't know where I was. I really didn't care at that moment, I just needed sunlight, though there was none.

I was just so tired…

"Emiko, are you okay?" the helmsman's voice cried out frantically, over the roar of the storm.

This snapped me out of my stupor. I looked up and was in the helmsman's station, and he was having a horrible time keeping the ship under control. I now saw the extent of the storm outside and was awed at the power of nature.

"What's happening?" I asked, referring to the storm. It all could have been kept from happening if Zuko didn't have such pride.

His muscles strained against the wheel. "Gruhh… You came up here and collapsed on me," he ground out through his strain. "I thought I'd lost you."

"N-no, I'm fine," I mumbled, though I knew that I must have look paler than death. "Do you need help?"

"I'm a little far from help," he growled, keeping his eyes straight ahead. "But… come wipe the sweat off my forehead. Keep it out of my eyes."

"I can at least do that, Commander Omni," I whispered, standing up with what will I had left. I stumbled over to him and tore the bottom hem of my nightgown, gently patting it against his forehead.

My eyes looked to his eyebrow, where a long, white scar was showing despite his young face.

"What happened?" I asked softly, nodding my head to him.

"Huh?" His eyes only looked at me for a moment, though he got what I meant. "Oh. That. Gruhh… I…I got in a fight with me mum while she was prego," he said, stifling a laugh. "Hun, you don't wanna do that. Came at me with a kitchen knife."

"Really?" I asked, wringing out the small rag I had made. "Okay. That would make some sense. But I'm the youngest of my family. I never got to see my mother… pregnant."

His brow scrunched in confusion. Instead of meeting his gaze, I looked out upon the raging seas. A small pull happened in my stomach, and I suddenly had the urge to Firebend. I didn't, though, and kept the energy, making it grow and spread in my body until I felt a little bit better.

Actually, I felt a _lot_ better.

"Ah…you're mother is dead, is she lass?" he asked softly, not even the strain of his work pushing through his words. "I apologize."

"…It's not your fault, Commander," I whispered back to him. I tried to keep the wall of tears at bay, and so far it was working. "…It was mine."

He was about to ask why, but the crash of thunder broke his words from mine. I tried to hear what he was saying, but I couldn't understand a word. He was yelling something at me, but I was still blinded by some kind of flash of light. Whatever was happening, it seemed to happen in slow motion, but in truth it was all very, very fast.

A huge crash of lightening struck the bridge. The helmsman went flying with half of the cabin, letting out a scream as he went down that I couldn't hear. I almost flew with him, but I grasped a pole on the other half that was still standing in my confusion.

When I finally realized what had happened, my scream echoed out through the night unheard.

_**Zuko**_

Zuko and his first mate, Jee were standing on the deck, trying to stand up even as much as they could handle, while water came up from overboard and drenched them. The boat was tossing and turning, turning so much to where they were almost vertical. Screams were coming from everywhere, thunder silencing them and lightning blinding everyone on board.

Zuko tried to look through the thick rain, but all was in vain. "Where were we hit?" he shouted over the storm's ruckus.

Jee couldn't see a thing either, as he cried back, "I don't know!"

Suddenly Iroh ran up to them. He grabbed the back of both of their heads and pointed them upwards to the bridge. "Look!"

Zuko pointed at the bridge and shouted to Jee, "The helmsman!" After that statement, he climbed the external ladder up to the bridge area with the Lieutenant following behind him. They wasted no time in getting up there.

Zuko almost got to the top when he saw her. She was holding on for her life to a construction pole. Her screams he could finally hear, her fear he could finally see.

"Help the helmsman first!" Jee shouted over the sound of thunder. "He's closer, then go for the girl!"

The Prince nodded his head and reached for the man. Before Zuko reached him, he let go with a cry. He only fell a few inches, because two hands caught him: Zuko's and Jee's. Zuko looked down to Jee and smirked, wondering if the Lieutenant knew how much he appreciated the man's help or that perhaps he had finally respected him, if not a little, for doing well in a crisis. They then let the helmsman go down the ladder.

Zuko smiled and shook his head before he looked up to Emiko. She was holding on with all of her might, her skin paler than usual as it strained against the rock of the ship.

He climbed all the way up and reached as far as he could towards her, straining his hand out. "Emiko!" he cried, lightning lighting up her face in a strange, eerie way. "Emiko! Grab onto me!"

She clenched her eyes shut and screamed just as a flash of thunder brightened the sky. Her scream barely made it to his ears before it died off in the storm.

Suddenly her arms went limp and her eyes closed, and she was no longer clinging to the pole. The boat tilted, and with it went her body. Zuko reached out to grab her…he caught a hold of her skirt, but it slipped from his hands.

All of the men on board stared, horrified, as she fell off the bridge and into the churning waters below.

"_EMIKO_!" he cried before sliding down the slippery ladder to reach the ground faster. He looked over the edge of the ship, only to see a light dimming as it went down further and further. "I'm going after her!"

"No!" a crew member called, holding Zuko back with hands that should not have been so strong. "You'll drown!"

"Let me go!" he yelled angrily, pushing them all away. "I don't see any of your sorry asses going to help!" The next few moments seemed to be cut up clips of real life. First he was on the ship, then the next thing he knew he was diving into the ice cold water. The current pulled him towards her inert body faster, and he willed himself faster.

He could see the different colors of water as they swirled around her motionless body, see them smiling as if they had won. They had taken away a piece of the scum, of Fire Nation, and they were happy.

And that was why it was called a current. Because it was relentless.

_I can't let her get hurt_, he thought as he raced after her. _I promised Uncle. I may hate her with all of my heart, but I can't let her get hurt._

Zuko reached out but missed her hand, and he swore in his mind.

His body was freezing up in the cold, stormy waters, but he pushed on. _I would never forgive myself if something happened to her,_ he thought, kicking, reaching…!

Finally, he reached out again and caught onto something: it was her waist. Zuko pulled her close and started to try and get away from the current. It was leading towards a light, and from what he could see it was an opening in the storm.

Hey, it was good enough for him.

_**Emiko**_

The only thing I could think of was: why? What did I do to deserve something as cruel as _drowning_? I must have kicked Sabretooth-Moose-Lion cubs in a past life. No Spirit ever died of drowning…so why did a Spirit in _training _have to? White Fire couldn't help me in this situation. Especially not since it was night. Oh, and I was kind of under water.

The water started feeling warm, and I could see pictures: pictures of happier times. There was my father; young, handsome, and no brown sideburns yet so he didn't look like a monkey. I smiled at him, and he smiled back, giving my younger form a hug. I was soon gone, though, and I didn't know where I had gone.

Then I saw my older brother running around in a circle, vying for his attention. He quickly picked him up, then walked over to my sister and picked her up as well. They were quite a trio, those guys. Brown hair—besides my brother—yellow eyes, same facial structures…they all _belonged _to him.

But I didn't. I sat alone in a small sandbox in a park, dragging my fingers through the dirt at the very bottom. Then, someone picked me up from behind, and I saw the black haired, yellow-eyed woman that was my mother. She smiled at me before walking over to my father.

He smiled too and rustled my hair, adding me to the duo of kids in his arm. Together we made a family.

But apart, we made enemies.

_**Zuko**_

Zuko clawed through the water, pulling her body closer to him. She was freezing half to death, meaning that if he didn't get her out of the water then she would surely die. She was always hotter than fire to him, no matter what had happened, so something must have been terribly wrong.

He could feel her tiny frame underneath that white form, wanting nothing more than to be in any situation other than this. She was so beautiful, no matter what he kept trying to tell himself, no matter if he tried to convince himself that he thought he hated her.

If he held her like that without having her drown, would she let him do it? If he wanted to kiss her, would she let him?

He didn't know how it happened, or why, but he suddenly felt closer to her, closer than he ever would be.

Saving someone's life was like nothing he had ever expected, and he had done it more than once. She owed him for this, and he wondered how much he was actually going to make her owe.

_**On deck…**_

Jee and the others were on the deck, searching for Zuko out in the water. The skies were lightening, but what was going to happen to them if the Prince actually couldn't make it back? It'd been rumored that the young man could hold his breath for longer than most, but that still left the unconscious Emiko, who had been without oxygen even before falling into the churning water.

One of the crewmen pointed out to sea. "I think I see him! And…he's got Emiko! They're okay!"

All of the men shouted for joy. Jee and Iroh sent down a line and Zuko tied Emiko to it and then grasped it.

When they were both on board, the men cheered again. Zuko picked her up and checked her pulse. Everyone waited for him to tell what was wrong, surrounding him as he held her close.

"She's alive," he finally said, his voice almost a whisper. He could feel her shallow breath against his neck, though it was so light…

All of the men exhaled in relief.

Zuko moved to put her in the Doctor's arms. "But just barely. Take her to a place where she can rest," he said with little breath. "Tell me if her condition changes." _For better or for worse._

Doc nodded, then started to walk away just as the sun let out a little patch of light. But before he got too far, she started to cough up water. It spewed out of her mouth uncontrollably. Then she opened her eyes and looked up to see a circle of men standing over her, their heads crowded together. "What are _you_ looking at?"

Jee narrowed his eyes at the girl, making a sickened sound in his throat. "I can't believe I was worried about you."

She smiled ruefully. "I can't believe you were either—" She was cut off by another stream of water exiting her maw.

Iroh gently pushed a strand of hair away that was plastered on her face and then kissed her forehead. "I was so worried about you…" he whispered softly, making Zuko walk away.

He didn't want to hear their lovey-dovey mess. He didn't want to think about that little girl that he knew was better than he gave her credit for, but didn't want to. She was beautiful, yes, and smart, perhaps, or most of the time.

Suddenly he felt a presence behind him. He didn't even have to turn and look to see that it was Emiko. She was standing in her nightgown shivering, her arms wrapped around her small frame. Her hair looked almost grey underneath all the water, and with her yellow eyes peeking up she looked sort of…_normal_.

She wasn't this she-witch that he tried to pin all of his wrong-doings on. She was just a normal Fire Nation girl who just happened to drop into his arms at the wrong time. But then, perhaps it had been the right time.

She bit her lip and looked to the floor. "I…I wanted to say…thank you," she whispered, her voice still hoarse from the saltwater in her throat. It was scratchy and rough, not at all like he was used to. But in a way, it was something that set his nerves on fire. He wanted her, but he knew he couldn't have her.

Zuko's eyes concentrated on her for a moment, and then he smiled slightly to himself. "For?" _She's apologizing?_

She seemed to want to bite her lip, glare angrily at him, and storm off. But that was childish, and she definitely wouldn't let him have that advantage. "For saving my life…_again_…" She put her hand on his arm, and strangely it felt…_right_. Like how he could feel her heat below her hand. Like how he could look into those eyes and just _melt_ there.

Her mouth opened as if to say something, but then the sea water started boiling like ramen in a mess pot. He gripped the railing and looked over the edge, waiting for the storm to suddenly start up again. But in truth, it was really the Avatar's bison that flew by. "The Avatar!" he cried out, joy filling him, as well as anger and shame.

After all that had happened over the day, he still wanted the Avatar in his cell beneath the ship, still wanted the small boy his prisoner.

Emiko's hands were held together lightly in front of her, and she looked up at him meekly from beneath her thick black lashes that were covered in drops of water. He could tell, he was that close. "…What do you want to do, Sir?"

Zuko paused to consider. She once again put her small, grateful hand on his arm and he lost his concentration for a moment. He thought of all his crew had gone through just for the Avatar, and how he had almost gotten Emiko killed.

He made up his mind with a quick nod her way. "…Let him go," he whispered to her, leaning into her touch. His eyes bored into hers, and for once he understood why she was how she was:

She was vulnerable, actually had fears. Right at that moment she was scared and worried, not just about herself but about Zuko. She was so headstrong that she didn't want to voice her worries. She didn't want men to have to help her, she didn't want _anyone_ to have to help her. So having the Prince save her only made it harder for her to ask forgiveness or thank him.

"We need to get this ship to safety," he said softly, wondering if the look on Emiko's face could be any prouder.

"Then may I suggest," Iroh said from behind them, making them both jump away from each other when he gave them a knowing look, "that we head directly into the eye of the storm."

_**Emiko**_

I didn't think that I'd ever seen anything more beautiful, the sun streaming through the funnel in the center of the storm. The sky was pink, purple, and orange, the sun's rays hitting me and filling me with energy, giving me strength.

I was huddling under a blanket, standing by the prow. Not _too_ close, mind you, because water was now my number two fear, right above being stolen out of my bed _again_ by someone who wanted to do my harm. Behind me, Zuko was apologizing to Uncle; he was admitting that he was wrong, and I couldn't be any prouder of him.

Suddenly, I felt him behind me. I didn't acknowledge him, though, as he stepped beside me, and he was silent for a few more moments. "I'm sorry, Emiko," he said a few moments later, as we both watched the sun through the clouds

"Your apology to me is accepted," I said back, just as softly. My eyes met his and I saw something that I'd never seen in them before. Actually, I'd _never _seen this look in _anyone_'s eyes, so I had no idea what to think as he turned to me and gently picked my chin up, staring into my eyes intently.

"Is it?" he asked, searching my eyes with his. I noticed that shards of pure gold were hidden in his topaz eyes, along with specks of onyx and silver. They were sincere and apologetic, making me smile softly as I looked into them, as well as confusion and wonder.

I nodded, finding myself leaning forwards subconsciously, my eyes fluttering closed. He leaned in as well, and I felt his face just a breath from mine.

Really? Was he going to kiss me?

My heartbeat fluttered faster, my breathing hitched. It seemed like a millennia as we just stood there, until finally he sighed, using his thumb to push my chin down and changing direction of what he was going to originally do to gently kiss my forehead.

I felt a small pang of disappointment, but I guess that it was all I was going to get out of him until he learned to be human, to have emotions, to fall into desires. I knew that at that moment, I was going to kiss him. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but soon.

Blush crept up my cheeks, and yet I leaned my head onto his shoulder. He didn't object, in fact he wrapped an arm around my waist to steady me.

Then he looked out onto the water. As if on cue, the Avatar erupted from the sea in a large air bubble within a boiling blue mass. This was in front of the prow of Zuko's ship, and it rocketed into the air as if powered by coal instead of pure animal power.

A small boy looked back at the ship to Zuko and me.

Zuko stared at the Avatar as he rode off.

I gazed up at Zuko, proud at his decision.

* * *

…**Twenty pages, this thing ended up being. TWENTY PAGES. (All of The Storm And it was reality hard to fix it up. It was mediocre, really, and I felt that I used too much dialog from the actual show. But, hey, what can you do? I'm still not satisfied, but if I kept trying to fix it then it would take months before I was perfectly happy.**

**Man, it was so LONG…good thing I split it into two parts, huh?**

**You liked the end? I was rather disappointed that my brain wanted the plot bunnies to go this way, but…! Oh well. The plot bunnies do what the plot bunnies do. If I go against them, then they will hate me and not want to re-do the next chapter of this, OR get the next chapter of "The Healer" up on time. ("The Healer" is the only story that I do NOT have done, btw. I just posted it because I really liked it, but the deadline on it is really hard to keep.)**

**Well, ANYWAYS, here's an excerpt from the next chapter, "Time to Set Off:"**

"…Uh, yeah. Actually, it is. How did you—?"

"Good guess," I said dryly, watching the valve closely. I noticed that it wasn't closing completely. "Is there something stuck in the valve, or is it not closing?" But I wasn't getting an answer. So I pulled my head out from underneath the engine, and I realized that I was looking at shoes too good to be Gizmo's. Then I looked up to see the very angry face of Prince Zuko. "Uh…" _I'm in trouble._

"What in Agni's name do you think you're _doing_?" he shouted, making many of the men around us stop to listen. If the room hadn't been filled with noise-making engines, you could have heard a pin drop.

"I was just—"

He grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet, making me yelp in surprise and pain, because that had kind of been my bad arm. "You were 'just' _nothing_! If I haven't told you before, then I'm telling you now: _stay out of crucial areas of the ship_."

"But I—"

"No, I don't want to hear another word! This is my ship, now get back to your quarters!"

I gritted my teeth, which was becoming a hard thing to break, and I had pretty nice teeth, too. Poor teeth. "Zuko, if you'd just—" Oh-hoh, he was going to interrupt me again. I put my hand up to his mouth and squeezed his cheeks together, stopping him from interrupting me again. "Stop talking."


	9. Time to Set Off

**Here's another Zuko/Emiko moment! Still, kind of short, but worth it. Emiko gets to know another crew member a little better, and Zuko finally asks what's up with Emiko's freaky skin. And, as a reviewer has said, "The plot bunnies are coming, the plot bunnies are coming!" :D**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Avatar: the Last Airbender. Do and Do Not are two different things, people.**

* * *

**Time to Set Off**

I flew awake with a scream. "MOTHER!"

But, as I looked around, I noticed that… _It was just a dream_. But I was covered in sweat, which in and of itself was strange. Perspiration? Never. Even with my training regimen, I never perspired.

I wiped my hand across my forehead and shook from the scare of the dream. When I looked at my hand, I saw that it was covered in something milky, like… Well, I couldn't explain it. But it had some kind of red tint to it.

When I wiped it on my nightshirt, I swore I smelt something burning. I looked down on it to see it smoking, and I screeched and jumped up from my spot on the bed to try and put it out.

But then I realized that it was only burning. I could easily put it out with just a flick of my wrist. Which is what I did and I placed both hands on the sides of my head and sat down back on the bed.

I tried to keep the pictures out of my head, but they and the voices came to me.

"_It's a monster! I knew something wasn't right about her. It's that little freak, Emiko!"_

"_Mommy? Mommy! Mommy! Where are you? MOMMY!"_

"_Emiko, NO!" _

"_Get that girl out of there!" _

"_Someone help her!"_

"_Mommy? Mommy!"_

I slowly opened my eyes and looked around through the tears. _This isn't my room, _thought as I fingered the soft silk sheets around me. There were banners hanging up on the cold, steel walls with Fire Nation symbols on them. A desk was situated on the far side of the room, and the door was to the right of me since I was sitting on the edge of the bed. _This is…__**Zuko's **__room._

Well, I felt a little bit weirded out. As far as I knew, it wasn't usual for people like Zuko to just _let_ me have their room. And anyways, it wasn't even right for me to be there! He still hated me, as far as I knew, and I still kind of disliked him (even though somehow I was still going to kiss him,) and it was just to see how it was, not because I liked him or anything.

_Ahem_.

I blushed and stood up, letting his silk blankets fall off of me like water. Which, I realized, I really didn't like. I planned on getting Uncle to change my bedclothes to something a little bit more…textured. Water was now my number two fear, with men taking me from my room in the middle of the night holding the third spot.

Oh, and the fourth was held by blood. Those were my top three fears. I know it sounded dumb, but I really was deathly afraid of blood.

I pulled on a new wrap—not made of silk, if it is of any interest to you—and made my way towards the door, opening it a slight crack before peeking out. I could tell it was night out, maybe two or three in the morning, and only the last shift men were working. Well, and those that could work on finishing fixing the engines and the helmsman's post were there too, but those poor guys had been awake for hours.

So that was when I decided to get dressed and go down to the hull, to help the men with the engines and to let some of them sleep. (There was no way I was going back up to the helmsman's post for a while.) I didn't look like I would know what happened in a ship's engine, but I was pretty sure that what they taught us at the Fire Nation Academy for Girls wasn't all forgotten.

You wouldn't believe what they taught us there. (Not that I'm going to elaborate anyways.)

I came out of my room in my old, ratty clothes and walked down the hallways, slowly, as I still wasn't doing too much better from the water and catching cold. _Besides,_ I told myself, _being in the engine room will keep me warm. Right?_

I walked down the dark, rickety steps that I figured needed to be fixed as well, but the smell of heat, ash, and coal caught my attention and I was suddenly in very good spirits. I walked with more of a skip in my step and I was ready to help, whether they wanted my help or not.

I found a few of the men working. I didn't know all of their names yet, but Gizmo was one of them, and he was a sweet man. At the moment he had his head under a piece of the engine, and he was reaching for a tool on the floor next to him. He was perhaps six foot five inches, with darkened skin from working and the biggest muscles I'd ever seen, but with those big brown puppy dog eyes and the childish face, he was adorable and didn't scare me at all.

"Hey, Gizmo," I said, crouching down next to him in the heat of what I thought was a four-stroke engine. I reached down and handed him the wrench, but he had already peeked his head out to look at me. "How long have you been up?"

"Not too long," he sighed, sitting up and wiping the sweat from his face. I could tell that he was lying, though, just from the exhausted set of his shoulders and the large black bags under his eyes. "You shouldn't be down here though, Miss Emiko."

I scoffed at him, motioning for him to scoot over so that I could sit next to him. He complied grudgingly, though he was so tired that I was sure that he thanked me for this moment of rest. "So what's wrong with the engine, then?" I asked, leaning back to look around. The engine was rather small, I noticed, but there were many things wrong with it. I guessed that it was a four-cylinder. Just a guess, though.

"You wouldn't understand," the big man said, taking deep breaths of air that I guessed was probably better than the air under a part of the engine where he had been working.

I internally rolled my eyes, but on the outside I looked at him and said, "Try me."

He sighed and rubbed the back of his head, looking around. "Where to start?" he asked, motioning to all of the problem areas where men were working in pairs of twos and threes. Some were shoveling coal, others working on the coal burning units, others standing around and moaning about all the work needed to be done. "Something is wrong with the intake/exhaust port flow, and I can't get the valves to operate correctly."

I leaned down beneath the machine as he had been doing, to inspect what he thought was wrong, as he cautioned me to be careful. _Haha! I'm right, it is a four-cylinder. Go me!_ "Don't worry, I'm pretty sure that I knew what I'm doing." _Says your arm as you actually break it when something heavy and hot falls on it and your head,_ my safe-side said in sarcasm, but I kind of ignored it. I was happy to maybe be able to help. Oh, and I was also right about the air being horrible underneath the engine, too.

"Explain to me about the valves," I called out to him, noticing many long pipes with egg-shaped solid objects trying to spin on them. They were also trying to push down something smaller than my finger, but something was wrong. Then there was a strange, long comb-looking thing with large mallets on the end, and they were pushing two forwards at a time onto some kinds of half-cylinders. There was a wheel turning it.

He sighed, as if he didn't want to resign himself to this. "The valves are operated by a camshaft rotating at half the speed of the crankshaft." I guessed that the camshaft was the first pole I had seen, and that the crankshaft was the strange comb thing holding the mallets. "It has a series of cams along its length," _eggs, _I thought, "each designed to open a valve during the appropriate part of an intake or exhaust stroke." _The little round parts below the thing that's smaller than my finger? _"A tappet between valve and cam is a contact surface on which the cam slides to open the valve." _Ah, my finger._

For some reason, the camshaft, I noticed, was going faster than the crankshaft. "The camshaft is going faster than the crankshaft," I called out, and he was silent for a moment.

"…Uh, yeah. Actually, it is. How did you—?"

"Good guess," I said dryly, watching the valve closely. I noticed that it wasn't closing completely. "Is there something stuck in the valve, or is it not closing?" But I wasn't getting an answer. So I pulled my head out from underneath the engine, and I realized that I was looking at shoes too good to be Gizmo's. Then I looked up to see the very angry face of Prince Zuko. "Uh…" _I'm in trouble._

"What in Agni's name do you think you're _doing_?" he shouted, making many of the men around us stop to listen. If the room hadn't been filled with noise-making engines, you could have heard a pin drop.

"I was just—"

He grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet, making me yelp in surprise and pain, because that had kind of been my bad arm. "You were 'just' _nothing_! If I haven't told you before, then I'm telling you now: _stay out of crucial areas of the ship_."

"But I—"

"No, I don't want to hear another word! This is my ship, now get back to your quarters!"

I gritted my teeth, which was becoming a hard thing to break, and I had pretty nice teeth, too. Poor teeth. "Zuko, if you'd just—" Oh-hoh, he was going to interrupt me again. I put my hand up to his mouth and squeezed his cheeks together, stopping him from talking. "Stop talking."

His entire face went red, and I was sure that his chi was also turning his eyes that color. Oh, and look, the vein on his neck was popping out again!

I slowly took my hand away from his mouth and waited, just to make sure that he wasn't going to say anything again. So I sat down on the floor and patted the space next to me. He looked at me like I was crazy, so I held up a hand and said, "Just do it."

Zuko must have hated me so much during that time that he was going to explode, but I knew that he was curious. At the same time, though, he didn't want to look cowed in front of his men. "Get back to work!" he snapped at them, and they quickly found something to occupy themselves with. "What do you think to prove by defying me?" he asked menacingly, glaring at me with hatred in his eyes.

"I'm trying to prove that I'm not completely useless," I said as if it were obvious, cheekily patting the metal next to me and giving him a look that meant business.

He made a disgusted sound in his throat and looked at the ground as if it were lower than dirt, (kind of like he looked at me, actually,) and finally sat down. He didn't look to happy about it. I did, though.

I laid down and slid underneath the engine again, waiting until he did so as well. Finally, when he got down there, I pointed out what all of the parts were and what they were supposed to be doing but weren't.

"So," I said finally, pointing to where the valve opening was, "I'm pretty sure that this is supposed to open and close to relieve pressure, but it isn't. So when we got hit, the crankshaft went off cycle." I noticed now that the "eggs" weren't hitting the "fingers" with full-on accuracy.

He looked at me for a moment, as if I were crazy, and then looked up to the engine's pieces. "So—" but he was cut off when he pulled his hand back as if he had been burned.

"Careful!" I exclaimed, grasping his hand to look at it. But he pulled his hand away from me as well. "Don't touch the engine, its kind of hot."

"What is _wrong _with you?" he demanded, holding his hand to his chest in pain. Slowly it dimmed from his eyes and he looked at me as if I were crazy. "I didn't touch the engine, I accidentally brushed against your skin!"

I felt blush creeping up into my cheeks, and I looked away, deciding that the cams were actually much, much more interesting than his eyes. "Ah. Well…sorry."

"Why is that?" he asked, and when I looked over, he was flexing his hand, stretching out the burned skin. "Why is it that every time I touch you, I get burned?"

"I'm…a Firebender," I said slowly, trying to find a reason not to tell him anything, but I had to at least explain this. Well…not _all_ the way. Even I couldn't explain it all. "All Firebenders have different temperatures."

"I'm a Firebender as well, and I have never met anyone with skin such as yours!" he growled, still stretching his hand.

I sighed and rubbed my face, taking in a breath full of toxic, ash-filled air, but I really didn't care. Zuko had turned my, _Oh, I hope I can help_, into _Man, I hate my life._ "Look, I'm not really sure why my skin is hot, but that's not the point right now. I want to figure out why your boat isn't working."

"That isn't your job, though, is it?" he muttered under his breath.

I pursed my lips, trying not to scream and yell at him. I turned over on my side, because there was still enough room for me to do so without being burned, and I looked at him until he finally looked me in the eyes. "What is it that you can't stand about me?" I asked softly, wondering what was behind all of that gold that wanted to push me away. "All I'm trying to do is help, and yet you act as if I've done nothing but ruin the entire investigation for the Avatar. What can I do to make you trust me?"

Again, I must have stunned him silent, just as I had the night after the pirates. He wouldn't meet my eyes and he looked like a child who had just been found out having had his hand in a cookie jar.

I reached over to gently cup the side of his face, making him look at me. It was rather funny, actually, how much grime one can get on his face when he's only been under an engine for a few minutes. I smiled softly at his dirty face, using my thumb to wipe of a smear of dirt. His eyes were wide in surprise. "Thank you."

Did I just thank him? _Really_? After everything that he had done to me, how mean he was to me, I had just _thanked_ him? Well, my good side was happy, at least.

He tried to turn over to face me, but his shoulders were too wide. So he was content with just keeping his head turned towards me. "What?" he asked softly as I took my hand away from his cool cheek.

"I just…wanted to thank you again. For saving me out on the water." Now I looked away, not being able to meet his eyes. Jeez, it was hard thanking someone, especially since that someone had saved my life and supposedly I hated his guts.

"I understand, but you don't have to do this, Emiko," he said, though I knew he really wanted it. And his eyes held a cockiness that didn't fit him. Figured that he'd use this as some kind of ego-booster.

"…But I _do_. That's just what you don't understand." I took a deep breath to calm myself, and then I proceeded with telling him my fears_. _"You have no _idea_ what the water does to me. I can barely drink a glass of the stuff, let alone be _surrounded_ by it. I just… I freaked, okay? I freaked. The second that lightning bolt hit and I flew out, my senses shut off because I knew I was going into the water. And…" I had to force the tears back into my eyes, which made my throat tight and my eyes burn. "…I thought I was…I thought I was going to _die_…"

The Prince was silent for a long while, as if he was trying to absorb the information I had just given him. "Look at me, Emiko," he whispered finally, in a tone of voice that I had never heard from him. I did as he said, but this made the wall of tears collapse and cascade down my cheeks. "As long as you are on this ship, as long as you are under Iroh's supervision…as long as you are under _my_ supervision. You will be safe. I will not allow anything to happen to you."

_But you already have_, I thought, looking back on how I was kidnapped by my father and the Pirates and then his own _crew_. "You're crew is what I'm mostly worried about, and I—"

His teeth clenched on this. "If they touch one _single_ hair on your head, I swear I will—"

"PRINCE ZUKO!" a voice called from outside, somewhere _not_ in the engine room, but we heard him anyways. It sounded suspiciously like Jee, whom I was still rather angry with. "WE NEED YOU ON DECK _NOW_!"

He gave a sound that didn't sound happy and started to scoot out. "Wait!" I cried, reaching for his hand. He tried to tug his hand away, but I wouldn't let him. He looked at me with a fire in those golden eyes, but I wouldn't let him go. "I…ah…" I slowly let go of his cool hand and looked away. "Thanks."

Zuko didn't say anything, bur from the corner of my eye I saw that he had been smiling. I smiled too as I looked up into the gears of the ship, now by myself.

_Maybe we are making progress, Uncle. _

* * *

**Hmm…Emiko's trying to be all Oprah Winfrey again. But hey, what can you do? And then there's her trying to be all smart with her "egg" and "smaller than my finger" knowledge. Really, she doesn't know anything, but she was trying to help. I 3 Gizmo(:**

**Sooo, here's a look at the next chapter, "The Dance," with a special guest appearance by one of my favorite characters:**

It wasn't until I heard the doors open behind me that I realized I wasn't alone. I looked back and saw a small girl, probably about 12. She was dressed in the most expensive clothes that made even me look like a person who lived in an alley. Her hair was done up in an elegant bun behind her head, and a gold headband kept it in place. The Earth Kingdom green dress made her skin look paler than it was.

A pang hit my heart, and one word came to mind:

_Pebble…_

They looked so much alike that I had to catch my breath because I had figured it was her. But, as I looked to her arm, there was no burn. As I looked to her height, she wasn't tall. And as I looked to her physique, she wasn't as lanky as my old friend. The girl's lighter-than-Pebble's-eyes were curious and her head was turned to the side in confusion. But other than that, she seemed perfectly normal. Except for _something_… It told me that she wasn't what she seemed.

"Tired of the party?" she asked for the sake of conversation. The look of confusion was still in her eyes, but she masked it well.

"Yup," I sighed, flicking a small rock off the banister. I flinched, remembering who it symbolized. "Dancing isn't really my thing."

"Mine either."

**Cookies for whomever figures out who the character is! :D Onto Chapter 10!**


	10. The Dance

**So the winner of the cookies AREEeee...superhapagirl and SweetInsomnia! :D Your cookies are chocolate chip, unless you don't like chocolate, then you have the choice of sugar or raisin(; You're right! The rest of you will just have to read on!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender. I'm just a poor teenager who is putting this up so that no one sues her.**

* * *

**The Dance**

"_No_."

"Emiko, please don't be angry with me, I—"

"I have every right to be angry, Uncle." I flicked a piece of lint off the intricately-designed yellow dress, trying to take a deep breath to calm myself but failing because it was so tight around my waist. I hated the new dress, which was why I had never worn it on the ship. Not my, _the_. I wasn't going to claim the thing. Actually, that was a good name for it. _The Thing_. _The Thing is back in its daring attempt to kill young women by suffocating them and send them flying head over heels for a face plant into the gravel road! Come and see The Thing! On stages near you._

Spirits, how did I get into this mess?

Iroh was pleading now, and he had that look on his face that I knew if I glanced at it I would be succumb and listen to everything he wanted me to do. "I know you're mad at me…"

I rolled my eyes and refused to look at him. "_That's_ an understatement."

He continued as if I hadn't spoken. "But I think that you and Zuko will fare better afterwards if you go to this. Go for the _relationship_, not because I asked you to."

I couldn't believe my ears. I put my hand on his shoulder and turned him from driving the War Rhinoceros. "Let me get this straight. You are making me go…just so Zuko and I will get _along _better?"

I wasn't going to tell him that we'd already sort of gotten along. Not that Iroh would think anything of it, but because he would do something about it. He would either try to push us together or keep us apart. My guess was the first.

"Now, now…"

"Don't '_now, now_' me!" I yelled at him, feeling my chi rise within me. I pushed it away as I pulled up the long skirt and jumped off of the rhino. "I'm _leaving_. I'm walking all the way back to the damn ship, whether you like it or not!"

Uncle turned the beast around and blocked my way. "Young lady, get yourself back up on this rhino and let me escort you to that meeting."

I stopped, looking up at him and the very stern look on his face. He'd never talked to me like that before. Actually, _no one_ had, besides my f—

_My father?_

I stopped in my tracks. Now _that_ thought was something new. No one, not even my old _Captain_ spoke to me that way. None of them was like a parental figure to me. None of them fit the picture.

But _Uncle_…

"Sure, Uncle," I sighed happily, shaking my head and chuckling to myself. "As long as you don't expect a wedding or great nieces or nephews, I'll be okay."

He held a secret in his eyes. "Alright, little one." He took my hand and pulled me onto the rhino. "Up you go!"

_**Later…**_

So we made it to the meeting. The building was a squat, one story rectangle building that didn't even look like it should hold hippo cow manure, much less a dressy party like the one I was _supposed _to be going to.

Uncle set me down a few yards away from the door. "I'll be right back, Sunshine. I just need to grab some things for the meeting and then…well, I'll be back."

I couldn't help the feeling of dread that went through my body at that moment. Somehow, I knew that he wasn't coming back like he said.

I ground my teeth as I looked up to the door. The Prince was standing off to the side, his arms crossed as he disdainfully looked around. He was apparently waiting for me.

Sighing, I walked up, ignoring the hem that was threatening to trip me. He looked me over, an eyebrow raised. "Good for you," he said dryly as he held out his arm. "You don't look nearly as much a peasant as usual."

I tried to ignore him as I put my hand on the crook of his arm to allow him to lead me inside. My nails dug into his arm and I narrowed my eyes. "Do we have to take this back outside?"

Zuko rolled his eyes and moved to open the doors. "No, no, I wouldn't want to go up against _you_." The sarcasm in his voice wasn't well hidden, and I didn't think that he meant to have it that way. "Besides, I don't want to mess up that pretty face of yours."

I wanted to turn and leave right about then, with him being his usually bastard self, but Iroh would be very, very angry with me if I did, and Iroh was really the only one on my team at the moment. So, when I walked inside expecting to see a meeting, I was very disappointed to see that it was really…_oh, Spirits, Uncle, you owe me for this._

It was a _dance_.

As if I had another reason to be humiliated in front of everyone. Zuko didn't look too happy about it either, though I was pretty sure that he knew how to dance better than I did. But, now that I looked at him, I saw that he was wearing some kind of royal wear that really suited him.

I took my eyes away from his well-muscled arms and looked at the decor. It was a good-sized room with a large table against the right wall. In the middle was a good-sized dance floor, and on the left side of the room was a buffet table. The back wall was all window, and in the middle of it was a glass door.

My head turned around and back to Zuko, and I saw that he was staring at me. I felt the heat rush up into my face as I noticed that _everyone _was staring at me. Well I guess that they were technically staring at both of us.

Zuko looked ashamed.

I grabbed his hand to keep him from looking so sad—now at least he looked shocked—and walked with him until we sat at our spot at the table. Zuko was completely silent. I tried to ease the situation by making a joke. "Hmm…" I thought out loud, in an overly-loud voice that many people turned to look at. "Isn't it _amazing_ how there is no spot saved at this table for a certain General _Iroh_…?"

Zuko looked around, not showing any emotion. "I suppose it is." I should've known that he wouldn't want to talk to me all that much. Iroh probably told him the reason we were here as well. Either that or he wasn't as stupid as I had been and he figured it out himself.

"This is so stupid…" I mumbled under my breath. _No, __**I'm **__the one that's stupid…_

"I beg your pardon?" Zuko asked. He eyed me suspiciously and held a question in his eyes. "I didn't quite hear you."

"I said this is _stupid_," I said again, even though the first time I hadn't been talking to him. "There's no reason why I should be here."

He looked at me quixotically, angrily messing with the wine glass that was prematurely set before him. "And why _shouldn't _you be here? You belong here more than I do."

"Really?" I asked bitterly, setting my elbows on the table. The women around me looked horrified as they took out their fans and turned their noses up at me. I smirked, because what I was just about to say had already increased by a few more people. "Well, I don't know about _you_, but I have a lot of people on my bad side."

He was amused, which took away the problem of his emotionless-ness, but added the problem of my patience. "Really? I hardly find you the type." Sarcasm. But I didn't hear it, or maybe I did, but I really didn't care.

"Who says I have to be the _type_?" I asked, turning to him. He had his usual cocky smirk stuck on his face, which made me lift my lip up in a sneer. "Making enemies isn't hard for most people, _Zuko_."

"You are one strange girl, Emiko," the Prince sighed bitterly, shaking his head. He looked away from me, picking up his cup and examining it once more. He took a long sip, draining most of the glass.

That struck me as an insult. I didn't know why, it just did. I shouldn't have added insult to injury, but hey, what can a girl do? "And just what are you, might I ask? _Normal_?" I snorted from how funny it was to me.

Apparently he thought it was too because he chuckled as well. "No, I'd say that no one is normal. You just seem…_different. _To me, anyways."

I stood up and pushed my chair back. "Well then, if I'm so different, then maybe I _don't_ belong here!"

Grabbing my hand, he pulled me back down into my seat. "Sit down, _Emiko_, before you draw attent—"

Suddenly I sensed someone behind me, making a cold sweat collect on the back of my neck which was covered by silky material. Normally I didn't have that kind of reaction from someone walking up behind me, so I was instantly on guard. "Well, if it isn't an old _friend_."

I looked up out of sheer curiosity. Though curiosity did kill the cat-hawk. There, standing in front of me, was a good looking guy that at first I didn't recognize. He had military hair: long black hair pulled back into a tidy little bun on top of his head. I ran my eyes down his face to see bright, laughing brown eyes. Below his right eye was a tattoo of three upside down triangles.

And then I instantly knew who he was.

"_Eiji_!" I screeched when I jumped into his arms. He wrapped his hands around my waist and picked me up, twirling me around. My heels didn't technically like that, as they weighed down my legs and made me wobble when I landed, but I was just happy that I had an old face here that was non-thratening.

People stared, but I didn't care.

Eiji smiled wryly and sat me down, pulling me close to him in a hug. I wanted to giggle and throw my arms around him like a child, but I figured that we had shown everyone enough of an emotional meeting.

He pulled back and I put my hands on his shoulders. But then I felt something, and I instantly pulled them away, my eyes widening in horror. I looked up and down his actually well-defined body. "…_What…did…you… _What did you _do_?"

He smiled and modeled off his Fire Navy uniform for me. "Isn't it _flaming_? I'm a Lieutenant now!"

I scowled at him and the Fire Nation lingo and grabbed the bun on top of his head. "Then what's this?" He tried to explain, but I held up a hand. "No, no, never mind." I dropped his hair and turned my nose up at him. "I don't want to know." _I do want to know what you're doing here, though._

Eiji smiled and rubbed the back of his head as if he were a child with his hand stuck in a cookie jar. "Well, I got my hair shaped for the military haircut. I mean, I can't just go running around with waist-length hair anymore, Emm."

I angrily punched him in the arm, feeling all of my anger that I directed towards anything that my father had to deal with, (which included the military,) fill myself up. "I can't _believe _you! And don't call me that. You went and joined the Navy after—"

His large hand went over my mouth, and Eiji gave me an apologetic look with those big, puppy-dog brown eyes. "You didn't give me a chance to explain."

I crossed my arms over my chest, scowling, and waited until he removed his giant hand. "_Do _tell."

"Well, I met back up with Isamu and…well..."

The name sent a rush of anger through me. "Ha!" I laughed bitterly in his face. I turned to Zuko who was staring at us, wide eyed and confused. I took Eiji's arm roughly and held it to my side. "If you don't mind, I'd like to step outside with my _friend_."

Zuko shrugged and looked back to his cup of wine. I hadn't even known he got anything. For a moment I wondered that if I left him alone if he would drink too much, but then I dismissed the subject.

Why would Zuko have a reason to get drunk?

I grabbed Eiji by the ear and pulled on it until we were outside and alone. He complained all the way out, like a child, at least. "Okay, bud, listen up and listen good: there's no way you're taking me back to my father."

"_What_?" he asked innocently, holding up his hands as if to shield himself from me. "Emm, I wouldn't do that."

"Did you even see the bounty on me?" I asked accusingly, glaring daggers. "I'm pretty sure it's up to 5,000 gold pieces by now."

He held up his hand with a smug little smile on his face, expecting me to think that he was proud of me. I slapped his hand down bitterly, because he didn't fool me!

"That's why you're here, I _know _it is. That's the only reason you would go to a _dance_." I grimaced on the last word.

Eiji chuckled, and I quickly sensed something different in his eyes, something_...sinister._ "Well, you must be after the Prince, because that's the only reason _you_ would be at a _dance_."

"I—!" Well I couldn't really tell him why Uncle said I was there, so I was stuck on what to say. He actually kind of had me. I froze with a confused look on my face. _"__Oh yeah, I'm just here to get to know the Prince better!"_

_That_ would go over well.

The smile on his face was smug. "Though so."

"I was forced—"

"Uh-huh. Sure you were."

"I _was_!" I yelled at him, grinding teeth and balling up fists. I thought of how someday I would wear down my teeth from grinding them again. Used to be that it would have taken a while, but these past two months had really done a total on my teeth. "Ugh, I am _not _going to take this. I'm going back in."

He grabbed my arm and pulled me back, but it was my bad arm. I tried not to show pain. "Be careful, Emm. Okay?" His eyes had a hint of insanity in them, and I wouldn't have been surprised if he tried something crazy right then and there. "That guy is bad news. I know it."

I moved a piece of black hair out of his eyes and smiled, ignoring my better judgment. "There's no need to worry about me, Eiji. You _know _better."

_**Zuko**_

Zuko was sitting at the same spot Emiko had left him in when suddenly a group of women surrounded him. He really didn't notice them at first, and he concentrated on his apple-grape wine. He was on his…which glass was it? He didn't know, he really couldn't think at the moment. Every time he took a sip, a waiter was by his side to fill it back up.

Now he noticed the women. Most were completely hideous compared to the radiance of Emiko's beauty, which—

_Whoa, where did that come from?_ he asked himself as he tried to fend off the women.

One, a rather chunky woman who was wearing something too revealing for someone half her size, with so much makeup on that twenty women could've worn it, looked at him as if he were a pastry ready to eat. "Hello, Zuko, haven't you grown up to be handsome?" She fluttered her eyelashes sickeningly.

Another, one who he couldn't even see past a huge mole on her overly large nose, crowded near him. "Well, aren't you a _cutie_. I've never seen you before, but I'd like to get to know you."

Then there was one that almost took his breath away. She was to his shoulder in height, with big brown doe eyes and shiny brown hair in a bun behind her head. She had the softest skin and the softest face of anyone he had ever seen.

But strangely, she wasn't as beautiful as the one he had brought.

"Prince Zuko," she said meekly, gazing up under full lashes, "would you dance with me? I would be honored." She curtsied like a woman with a good background was supposed to do, and she didn't meet his eyes, either.

Suddenly the group of women was pushed apart, and Emiko stood in between them. Her hair was a little disheveled, but it only made her look better. She had put a little make-up on, and outlined those bright yellow eyes with some modest brown. Her hair was up in an elaborate cascade above her head, giving the illusion of black fire. Her body was covered in expensive silk that Iroh paid for himself, and he liked this dress on her quite a bit. Her hips were accentuated especially, giving her the illusion that she actually had some. There was a small opening in the shape of a diamond on her chest, showing off cleavage that wasn't usually there.

"Sorry, ladies," she said as she got close to him and wrapped her arm through his. She smelled of summer flower, one that he wished he could pluck off the ground and carry off to put in a vase and stare at forever. "This man is mine."

He was going to protest, but her heavenly sent assailed his nose once more. He took his arm from hers and wrapped it around her waist, getting him a stomp on the foot with one of her high heels.

_Oh well, that was worth it_, his intoxicated brain was thinking.

"She's absolutely right, ladies. I'm sorry, but I must leave with my date." He had to choke out the last word, but somehow it seemed right on his tongue. He turned to her and bowed. "Would you honor me with a dance?"

"M-me?" she asked in wonder, her voice somewhat panicked. Her eyes widened and she bit her plump lower lip, gnawing it between her teeth. He also noticed that she got paler at the word 'dance.'

Besides, who else did she think he was asking?

_**Emiko**_

I hadn't meant that he'd actually have to _dance_ with me!

He grinned evilly and took my arm, leading me out to the dance floor. "B-but I can't dance!" I cried as I tried to pull away.

Zuko took my hand, pulled it up in the air, spun me, and then caught and dipped my body. His strong hands knew just where to hold so it would be appropriate, but also where to hold to drive me crazy. I felt ashamed to be thinking certain things at that moment, because I had no right in thinking them "Its all in the leading," he whispered in my ear, his breath smelling vaguely like apple-grapes. He pulled me up, and I put my arms around his thick, muscular neck. He complied and rested those large hands on my hips, making a hot blush run up my neck to fill my cheeks.

Surprised and disapproving murmurs filled the crowd, especially from the ladies he had turned down. As we slowly circled, I couldn't help but see angry faces as they watched us.

"This is going to cause _quite_ the controversy when the news reaches the capital," I whispered in his ear quietly, trying to ignore the muscles in his shoulders and keep my eyes averted. But his hands squeezed my hips gently, making my knees feel weak.

Zuko had to lean in to hear my soft voice. Then he pulled me closer and whispered, "What makes you think that?" His hard, muscular body was pushed so close to mine I wondered if he would notice my trembling.

"Think about it," I told him, losing my breath when he suddenly dipped me down. I waited for him to pull me back up into his too-warm arms. "Th-the Prince and the girl on Zhao's wanted poster." My voice was even, though that wasn't what I was feeling inside.

He pursed his lips and tried to hide a smile. "We probably shouldn't be dancing, then."

That statement kind of made me feel...I don't know, _unwanted._ My heart sank, but I decided to snap back to keep from feeling miserable. "_Fine_," I growled, gesturing towards a group of guys that looked like they would kill anyone who walked up to them. I had noticed them noticing me earlier, and now they were just creeping me out. But Zuko was making me angry; he deserved a little pressure. If he thought I would risk myself to dance with one of them then he would stop me. "Then I'll go ask one of _them_ to dance."

As soon as I was out of his arms, the Prince instantly pulled me back. It made me lose my breath as his furious topaz eyes turned three shades darker. His arms were wrapped around me tightly, and I was completely up against his Firebending-toned body. He had leaned forwards, his lips right beside me ear, and he was paused there. His nose skimmed my ear. "Iroh would kill you…" he murmured, his breath against my skin made my breathing short.

The lights then darkened, making him an outline against the candlelight. A very large, very intimidating outline.

I shivered from his cool, calloused touch. "He…he would never…"

My voice was lost in the sudden start of new music. It was slow and intimate, and I found myself forgetting about what I was going to say.

Zuko kissed my bare shoulder, his rough lips lingering, his breath creating goose bumps from my jaw to down my arm. "_Hmm_…"

"A-and I wasn't…really…going _to_…"

The lights dimmed even more, and suddenly all I could see were his dark topaz eyes. They came closer, along with the cold of his body, and his lips kissed under my jaw. One of his hands slid down my hip, the other sliding up my waist to hold against my back. I shook my head and tried to think straight, but it was kind of hard to do. He was looking at me like I was something to…_eat_. "Zuko…what are you…?"

And then his lips were slowly pushed against mine. My blood boiled as his cool, smooth lips moved against mine, though I wasn't going to act on its impulse. I tried not to think like a teenage girl as he kissed me, but if you are a teenage girl, you know how it is when you get kissed by a guy for the first time. Not that he was my first kiss, but you know what I mean.

He pulled me to him gently, parting my lips with his. His kiss was intoxicating, his lips so smooth and wonderful that I could have wept. I vaguely felt his hands moving to pull my hips closer, but I couldn't think past anything but his lips. I then knew why it was so easy to get carried away. I let my hands rest on his chest, not thinking about anything else but him, welcoming the feeling of him, his lips, against me.

There _were_ no other dancers on the floor. We were all alone in our own little world, holding each other close, kissing with a slow, strong emotion… I didn't know if we were even dancing anymore, or just swaying back and forth, or just standing there.

And truthfully, I didn't care.

"_Emiko_…" he whispered against my lips, his breath hot against mine. And then I slowly pulled away. We were both breathing heavily now, warily looking into each other's eyes.

His were beautiful. Bright, topaz eyes surrounded by and surrounding pitch black circles. They stood out against the dark as I ran my fingertips over his shoulder, down the side of his chest where his heart was beating erratically.

As those lips returned heatedly, I took in one deep breath of surprise, maybe to calm my nerves before they were jumbled up again. My hands moved upwards to feel the muscles in his neck, to his jaw that was attached to mine. I let my fingers caress his face, memorizing every feature. He had strong cheekbones, his good eye very well set. His neck was strong, stronger than I ever would have guessed from his slighter build than most men.

But I wasn't thinking about _most men_.

_What are you doing?_ my brain was asking, melting in the intimacy of our embrace. Part of me was so excited about this that it was jumping for joy, but the other part was frowning deeply, sensing some kind of foreboding danger.

I pulled away, not able to meet his eyes, looking at his shoulder instead of looking at him directly. His lips then found the next best thing and started kissing my neck, my jaw, and I couldn't take it without feeling as if I were being used. So I untangled myself from his arms—you have no idea how hard this was, as I still wanted to kiss him—and I turned my back to him. I bit my lower lip to keep away the tears, and wrapped my arms around my waist to keep from shuddering at my own reckless abandon. "I-I'm sorry," I apologized quickly, trying to get the kiss out of my mind. "I-I shouldn't have d-done that."

I hurried over to the buffet table and started ladling punch into a cup. Anything to get rid of the picture of hurt on his face. Thinking of his face made me think of his soft lips, his strong cheekbones, the way he held me…

The punch cup was shaking so hard that I wasn't getting any of the damn blue punch in it. I slammed it down on the table and then strode angrily out to the balcony behind the glass doors.

Even in the peace and quiet, I couldn't help but scold myself. Why had I kissed the Prince of the Fire Nation? No, not the _Prince_, but _Zuko_? I mean, come on, it wasn't even that intimate! _Well, the music was nice…and the candles…the planes of his face were nicely set off by them—_

ENOUGH!

I sighed and looked out onto the garden. It was beautiful, the nighttime flowers opening their buds to the bright moonlight. I looked up to the moon and silently asked it the one question I always had. _Why do you hate me?_

When I closed my eyes, the golden moon was suddenly full, a bright yellow light cascading down. It duplicated, and suddenly one large crater filled the center of the moons. And then they were put into a face. His eyes were luscious gold pools that I wanted to swim in, but why was he in the moon? I looked back up at it and sighed, thinking about the way his heartbeat rushed faster when he kissed me, and—

CUT IT OUT!

It wasn't until I heard the doors open behind me that I realized I wasn't alone. I looked back and saw a small girl, probably about 12. She was dressed in the most expensive clothes that made even me look like a person who lived in an alley. Her hair was done up in an elegant bun behind her head, and a gold headband kept it in place. The Earth Kingdom green dress made her skin look paler than it was.

A pang hit my heart, and one word came to mind.

_Pebble…_

They looked so much alike that I had to catch my breath because I had figured it was her. But, as I looked to her arm, there was no burn. As I looked to her height, she wasn't tall. And as I looked to her physique, she wasn't as lanky as my old friend. The girl's lighter-than-Pebble's-eyes were curious and her head was turned to the side in confusion. But other than that, she seemed perfectly normal.

"Tired of the party?" she asked for the sake of conversation. The look of confusion was still in her eyes, but she masked it well.

"Yup," I sighed, flicking a small rock off the banister. I flinched, remembering who it symbolized. "Dancing isn't really my thing."

"Mine either," she told me, shaking her head. She threw down the fan she was holding and kicked it off the balcony, not even watching as it dropped into the pond below. A small smile pulled up the edge of her lips. Only when the sound of a plop hit our ears did she continue the conversation. "I hate these meetings. Or 'parties' as my _parents_ call them."

I rolled my eyes. "So Uncle _was _right." _He always is._

Her ear twitched at the sound of my voice, and her head slightly tilted in my direction. "Hmm?"

"It is a meeting, but it's disguised as a dance party," I mused, looking down at my hands "I _knew _he would do something like this…" _He said he wanted me to get along with the Prince. Well, Uncle, I don't see how we could get along any better unless—_

I stopped my thoughts before they took the wrong direction.

The girl looked towards me with pale green, accusing eyes. "You're gonna have to be more specific," she told me, leaning back on the railing too, as if we had been friends at a bar instead of compete strangers at a meeting-disguised-as-a-dance-party.

I sighed again. What harm would it do to talk to this little girl? It wasn't as if I would ever see her again. "Well, I've got this supposed 'date' in there, and it was all set up by his Uncle."

"And he's your uncle too?" the girl asked, a green tint appearing on her face. "Isn't that like…uh…"

"Oh, no!" I cried, shaking my head in disgust, giving her a smirk. She wasn't looking at me, though. "I just _call _him Uncle! I would…oh my, I would _die_ before I was related to that buffoon in there!"

She smiled and chuckled, her stance visibly relaxing. "He's that bad?"

"You have no _idea_!"

Her laugh rang out through the garden, her tiny bell tones mixed with my rougher ones. Her ear twitched again, and she looked back towards the doors. "Was he the protective one in there? The one that's now completely and utterly confused?"

"Ugh," I gagged, sticking my tongue out, pointing down my throat. She giggled. "The one and only." _Well…maybe not the __**one**__and __**only**_ _confused one_…

"Hey, don't feel alone," she told me, leaning back against the banister. "Do you think I want to be here either?" For some reason, I looked at her as if she were something...I don't know, _strange. _Something about her, like me, was different.

But then again, she was only a child, so I rolled my eyes and ignored the voices in my head. How much could a twelve year old hurt me, anyways? "So why are we here?" I sighed, finishing her sentence.

"Well, my parents—"

I held up my hand. "Say no more."

"My parents don't understand…" she told me, her face scrunched up in a frustrated wrinkle. "They've always treated me like I was helpless."

"And why are you helpless?" I asked, leaning back on the banister. She looked normal to me, nothing wrong. But still, something nagged at me in the back of my mind.

She waved her hands in front of her face. "Have you not noticed yet? I'm blind."

I raised an eyebrow. "So how did you know I was out here? I'd think a blind person couldn't tell that another was standing a few feet away. Or that there was a _protective_ man inside. Or know enough to drop her fan on the floor and then kick it off the balcony." _With a smile on your face._

"Okay, you caught me," she sighed, her eyes—which I noticed had some kind of film over them—looking to the ground. "And, I know this is gonna sound weird, but…you're just gonna have to believe me."

I held up a hand and tried to fight off a growl. _She has no idea… _"Honey, you haven't even _seen_ weird," I mumbled, rolling my eyes.

She nodded, her eyes cautious. But I wasn't sending out any dangerous vibes, only annoyed ones. "…Even though I was born blind, I've never had a problem _seeing_." The way she said the last word made me raise an eyebrow. "I see with _Earthbending_. It's kind of like seeing with my feet. I can feel the vibrations in the earth, and I can see where everything is. You, that tree, even those ants."

I looked around, unable to see the ants she was talking about. Finally, I turned back to her with a smile. "That's _amazing_." _So you're not alone in this world…a blind girl that can see and some kind __of Spirit freak with white fire._

"But like I said, my parents don't understand."

"Then why stay here where you're not happy?" I asked, still looking for the ants.

"They're my parents," she sighed, laying her head on her arms that were resting on the banister. "What else am I supposed to do? Where would I go?"

"You seem about twelve, am I right?" I asked, leaning down next to her. She nodded but kept her head low. "Then why don't you set out on an adventure? I was about your age when I left home."

"You hate where you came from," she observed, pointing to me.

"How do you know that?"

She put her hand on the banister and concentrated. "The way your heart sped up told me that you either missed your parents horribly, or hated their guts. We seemed so much alike that I just guessed the second one."

I smiled. _Smartass kid._ "Anyways, think about what I just told you."

"Yeah…" she agreed, nodding and looking thoughtful. "You get to go wherever you want,d ow hat you want to do...I'm just not sure if its for me."

I had to admit that she had spunk. I was still trying to convince her when I heard a female voice calling. "Toph, oh Toph, where are you?"

The young girl scowled and shook her head. "_That_ would be my mother." Her tone told me a lot about 'her mother.' Poor kid, she must have had the opposite of what I had had as a kid. Pampered uncontrollably, but no where to run, to be free.

"I guess you have to get going then," I sighed, feeling a frown on my face. I was actually enjoying her company. She was blind—and even with her strange foot-seeing power, I doubted she could see that I wasn't exactly "normal"—so she couldn't talk about how bizarre the girl in front of her was. Even more, she shared my views on parents.

"Hopefully I'll see you later, uh…?"

I smiled at her before remembering that she couldn't see it. "Emiko.."

"Emiko. Alright. I'll see you later. Well, not _see _exactly…"

"I get what you mean. And no, unfortunately not. I have to set sail in the morning."

"On a ship? Ugh, I don't think I could stand not behind able to see. The ground wouldn't be there!"

I laughed and smiled at her. "Thanks for the talk."

"No, thank _you_," she said, smiling as she opened the door leading back into the dance room. "I just might take you up on that offer."

I had to have been going soft, and all for a blind little Earthbender girl who reminded me of my best friend. "Good."

"See ya," the girl named Toph waved as she disappeared in the crowd.

_Strange girl_… I mused as I walked into the room, closing the doors behind me.

I walked around the room, not really seeing anything. The one person who could have a civil conversation with me was a twelve year old, but even she was gone. _Man, I am __**pathetic**_, I thought bitterly grabbing a chair and thrusting it into the corner. _I think I'm just going to sit here and wait out this party. If a 12 year old girl is the only company I can keep, I think I'm screwed._

_**Later...**_

_This whole night is **crap**! _I screamed in my head, looking down at my shiny white-gold slippers with disgust. I sat in the corner, still on my same glass of wine as when I first walked in. I swirled it around, hoping to see it drain away.

It didn't.

But then again, I didn't want to become some kind of drunk like Zuko had. He was in the opposite corner from me, on his probably twentieth glass.

Looking around the room had gotten boring about the fourth time around. But my eyes kept landing on Eiji and the gang of rough men he was standing near, not to mention the Prince all by his lonesome. He looked pitiful, he really did. I decided then that he made a _horrible _drunk, which might explain why he kissed me.

Not that I wasn't happy about it, but still, it kind of made your self-esteem hit rock bottom when the only reason a man kissed you was because he was drunk.

Suddenly Zuko got up. He stumbled across the ground, holding his head as if in pain. He slowly but surely made his way to me. He looked so pitiful that I got up and met him half-way. "Are you okay?" I asked softly, trying to look away from his lips.

He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and lost his balance for a moment. He leaned most of his weight on me, then looked down on me with dazed eyes and slurred, "N-no…I don't think so…"

_Ugh, this is _great_. _I_ get to carry the drunk home. Shouldn't this be reversed? _"Come on, Zuko, let's sit you down for a few minutes and then we'll see if you can walk without falling on your face."

He pulled away and stood there defiantly. "I-I'm fi-ine. I swear-r."

"No, sit _down_." I pushed his shoulders to try and turn him off balance, but Zuko was actually a pretty sensible drunk. _Point one for the drunk._

He grabbed my shoulders to steady himself again and smiled triumphantly. "See? I t-told you that I can st-tand."

"I didn't say _stand_, I said _walk_ without falling on your _face_."

"I'm f-fine."

"No, you're stammering and slurring and—oh just come on already! Lets go before you draw anymore attention to yourself."

"I'm not d-drawing attent—"

Suddenly a scream came from the other side of the room, one so loud that every single person in the room turned to look. One so loud that Zuko finally stumbled down into the chair I wanted him in. "That is IT!" A man with long, shaggy hair rammed through the crowd and towards us, his eyes wild with insanity. "I'm sick of waiting. She's _mine_!"

I lost all thought process at that moment. What was Eiji talking about? I wasn't his, I wasn't _anyone's_! And he could wait for a dance just like everyone else.

_Wait a second. Is he...?_

That was when I realized it.

He was hanging _out _with the men who looked like they would kill anyone who walked up to them, not _around_ them. I now took time to notice that his armor was at least five years old, disheveled and falling apart. His hair had only been put up by an old piece of ribbon, but now was falling shaggy around his thin, gaunt face. He wasn't the man I used to know. No, now he was desperate and insane.

_Oh, Eiji, what happened to you?_

"Emiko, look out!" Zuko cried, pushing me out of the way and into the buffet table, making it crumble under my weight and its things fly everywhere. People were screaming, now, and I looked up in time to see a fireball pass through where my head would've been.

_Good reflexes for a _drunk_guy,_ I thought bitterly, standing up and brushing the crumbs off my dress. And then I actually saw it. My dress was covered in a blue punch, making it a vague green color. It was ruined. Completely stained and _ruined_.

A red veil passed over my eyes. That kind of anger where nothing that anyone says can get through to you no matter what happens. I'd only been through that anger a number of times, but it coursed through my body unexpectedly. After all, it was only a dress, and I would see that later.

But not now.

Uncle spent good money on the dress, and now a so-called friend destroyed it because he most likely needed money. Well I was gonna give him his money, right where the sun-don't-shine if you catch my drift.

"You know what, _Eiji_?" I asked, glaring up at him through a tangle of black strands of hair that had fallen down. "That _really_ pissed me off."

He laughed heartily, though it was still crazy. "What are you going to do, burn down my house with my mother in it?" A pang went through my heart as he knew it would, and the red veil went away to be replaced by a gasp of hurt. "I don't think so." _You're so cruel… _"And I'm not going to hurt you in any way. Wouldn't want to mutilate that pretty little body of yours anymore." The anger inside me boiled again, tears forming from his mercilessness. "Just go outside like a good little girl, get into the wagon, and then we can—!"

I felt the satisfying crunch of cartilage as it broke against my fist. Watching him collapse to the ground, I gently blew against my sore knuckles. My eyes raked over his pitiful excuse for a gang and glared daggers. "Anyone else want a piece of me?" _Just let one of you step up, cowards, come on. I need a good fight._

The others had horrified looks on their faces, all glancing down at their apparent leader who was crumpled on the floor. Every single one of them stepped back and stared, stupidly, at me and/or Eiji.

Finally one walked forward. He was a brawny man, with a scruffy appearance and a sledgehammer in each hand. Raising one up, he laughed a hearty, evil laugh that sent a shiver down my spine and made a dark red go over my eyes again.

Before he brought it down, the hammer was melted by a white fire, the metal liquefying onto his hand and scalding it. No one noticed—but me, of course—where the fire came from. They were all either too intoxicated to care or scrambling about screaming.

The brawny man screamed in pain and anger before bringing the other sledgehammer to strike me in the bad arm.

I flew out the back window, my arm feeling numb and then the stinging of the glass in my back and head suddenly happening, as if I needed anything more wrong with me. The last thing I felt before unconsciousness was water, and the last thing I heard was a rage-filled scream, along with other screams of disbelief.

* * *

**Man, Emiko is always just in the worst of predicaments. She really doesn't try to, really. OH! And guest-appearance! How many of you love Toph? ME! I DO! Emiko's the kind of person who gets along with people who are quite a bit younger than her. **

**Muahaha! A KISS! FINALLY! Well, a drunk kiss, but a kiss nonetheless. Emiko was flustered, that's for sure.**

**Soooo, here's an excerpt from the next chapter, "I Think I Know What You Think I'm Thinking...I Think," in which Emiko is turned into someone without worries, without a care at all, actually...other than where she is:**

I opened my eyes, fully, this time, to see an old man above me. He had grey sideburns, a topknot on his head with part of the hair running down his back, and a long, pointed beard on his chin. He had jolly yellow eyes that were worried.

…

And I had _no idea _who he was.

The man's eyes brightened when I looked up at him, and he took my hand happily. "Sunshine, how are you feeling?"

"Who are you?" I asked, taking my hand out of his with a sickening feeling in my stomach. For some reason, I felt like a hole was in my brain where this man should be. "And where am I?"


	11. I Think

**This chapter is slightly filler, butttt...everything has a reason for happening. Oh, and an intention for almost-smut. Not really, but Emiko tries to be seductive while she's not...herself. Anyways, you gotta read to figure it out!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender. I've not the money to be sued for it, either.**

* * *

**I Think I Know What You Think I'm Thinking...I Think**

Awake? Blackness was awake? No, cool, thick comforters, that was awake. And pain, yeah, that was awake too. But I felt strangely...I dunno, empty, I guess. It felt like a part of me was missing in the dark, and I really didn't like it. So I opened my eyes.

But the light was really, really bright, and I mumbled some words under my breath before turning my head away from the light. I opened my eyes, fully, this time, to see an old man above me. He had grey sideburns, a topknot on his head with part of the hair running down his back, and a long, pointed beard on his chin. He had jolly yellow eyes that were worried.

…

And I had _no idea _who he was.

The man's eyes brightened when I looked up at him, and he took my hand happily. "Sunshine, how are you feeling?"

"Who are you?" I asked, taking my hand out of his with a sickening feeling in my stomach. For some reason, I felt like a hole was in my brain where this man should be. "And where am I?" I paused for a moment and looked at my bandaged body, noting that both the reason that I was bandaged and the place where I was was also a missing hole in my head. "Um...what _happened_ to me?"

His joy faded along with the smile on his face. "Oh no…" Then he turned to a rough-looking man behind him, and whispered something to him. "Jee, is the Prince onboard?"

The man named Jee sighed and shook his head For some reason I felt distaste when I looked at this brown sideburned, grim-faced man. "No sir. The Prince is out in the town looking for the Avatar."

"Psh, what Avatar?" I asked dreamily, waving my good hand while I studied my apparently broken arm. I was interested in how it had gotten hurt, but more interested in how well it had been taken care of. "The Avatar is supposed to be an Airbender, and they're extinct. Well, my mom says so anyways, and I've come to believe that she's right."

"_Emiko_…" the man sighed in agony, putting one hand to his face as if he were in pain.

I scratched my chin, looking at my nails afterward. Did I bite my nails? Aw, what a shame, it was a bad habit. "_Emiko_? What kind of name is that? And why can't I feel my arm?" I started poking my bad arm and scrunched up my nose. "_Ow_, that kind of hurts."

A white-haired man next to the grey-haired one slapped my hand away. "Quit touching the cast."

My angry glare looked up to him. He was in his fifties, perhaps, with strikingly blue eyes and a face wrinkled like a map. For some reason I felt that I should know this guy. "It's my cast and I can do anything I want with it. Or at least I _think_ it's my cast… Now tell me who you are or you'll face the consequences." I had no idea what I was talking about, but then again I didn't know what I was doing or who I was, either. But a bluff is better than a lie, and I wasn't exactly sure that I couldn't attack these people if I absolutely had to. Mother said that it was a bad thing to fight, though. But I was really confused about another thing all together:

Who was this mother person I kept thinking about?

"I'm your doctor," the white haired man said, snapping his case shut, "and I'm the one who put you in the cast. So stop touching it and do what I tell you. If you do that, you'll be fine."

I shrugged, and the simple gesture made my shoulders hurt. I grimaced and wondered why my head hurt too, what with me not being able to remember anything. Was that natural? "Whatever." I was trying to stay calm, because who knew if these men were really my friends?

"Emiko, I am General Iroh, but you call me Uncle," the grey guy told me, patting his chest.

I cocked my head and looked at him questioningly. "Are you my Uncle?" Finally, some _family_!

"No," he chuckled, "but I might as well be."

Just then, a tall teenager with a black ponytail burst through the door. I was slightly angered that he had interrupted my trying to figure out who I was, but then when I saw the look of concern in his eyes I faltered. He had a scar on his left eye, but even with it there he was handsome. Once he laid eyes on me, the topaz irises softened and he exhaled. "She's okay."

"Well yeah, I'm okay," I scoffed, flipping my hair around. "Why wouldn't I be? And who are _you_?" I couldn't keep my eyes off of him. He was so… I didn't know how to describe the man.

"Uncle, what's wrong with her?" the man asked, leaning down and putting his hand on my forehead. "Why doesn't she know who I am?"

_I _wish_I knew you…_ I thought, looking over his gorgeous face. Even with that scar, he was one of the most handsome man I could ever remember seeing. …Even though I couldn't remember any other men.

What he said finally hit me. "Oh, so _you're_ his nephew!" I cried, putting my hand over my throat. There I felt a betrothal necklace, and my face lit up. "And the fat man said that I might as well be his niece, so that must mean that you're my husband!" The pieces were connecting in my head like a puzzle. I smiled and crossed my arms over my chest, smiling because I had it right.

"WHAT?" the man asked, pulling away and standing next to the door.

Uncle laughed heartily. Then he and the teenager had a very serious moment while a few of the men around us looked very, very uncomfortable. I didn't get a word either of them said, but then again I didn't really get anything at that moment.

"But Uncle, I can't—" he teenager growled.

"You can, and you will. You don't want her hurting herself more, do you?"

I cocked my head again and looked at him strangely. I was so confused! "So… you _are_ my husband, right? Because if not, I want to find my mother and tell her that I'm a little banged up, but I'll be okay." Who was my _mother_?

The teenager seemed to cringe for a moment, but then he got over it and started to think, some look from "Uncle" making him think faster. Then he walked over to me and held my hand. He seemed hesitant, but cleared his throat and said, "Yes, _sweetie_." The men behind him laughed, but I smiled at how cool his hands were in mine. "I am."

I smiled even wider, laughing in complete joy. At least someone here _knew_ me, and was close to me. "I know this is going to sound weird, but could I know my husband's name?" It was really strange that I couldn't recall anything. I should've at _least_ been able to recognize this man. Who could forget someone as gorgeous as him? Especially if he was my husband!

The man sighed again and put his finger and thumb on the bridge of his nose. "My name is Zuko," he told me, taking his hand from mine. "_Prince_ Zuko."

My mouth fell wide open and my mind ran with wonder as I gasped, "I'm a...a _Princess_?" They watched as I had a mental overload. Part of that wasn't my fault. Something he said… _"My name is Zuko, __**Prince**__ Zuko." _It triggered something in my brain, which made me want to get up and scream at the man… "B-b-b-but…!"

Zuko put a finger over my lips and sighed. For some reason I had a big urge to kiss him or to hit him. Was that natural in a married couple? I guessed so. "There's no sense in worrying over it. I…_married_…you, because I felt that you could handle it all. But you _can't_ handle it all when you're hurt as much as you are." He leaned down and hesitantly kissed my forehead. "Now sleep."

He started to walk away, but I grabbed his shirt. "Don't leave for too long," I begged, cringing when I moved my bad arm too fast. "_Please_." Was it also weird that I felt sickened when I had to beg him for something? I was pretty sure that married couples asked for things from their partners all the time.

His shoulders slumped, and the men in the room had to hold in chuckles. Uncle glared at them, though, which made them find something more interesting to look at. "Augh…" He rubbed his eyes with the palm of his hand. "_Alright_. I'll be back later. I have to deal with the ship."

My eyes brightened when I heard his statement, but not just because he said that he was coming back. "We're on a ship?" I gasped happily, smiling wide. I must have looked like a kid who had just gotten an eel-hound. Did I know what an eel-hound was? Well, anyways, it would have made me happy. "I'd love to see the ocean! I've never seen it before!"

Zuko looked at me like I was crazy. "Emiko, you've _already_ seen the ocean."

I put my finger to my chin. "I have? Oh." _Oops_. "Well, it'll be great to see it again!"

The man that Uncle called Jee looked at me with flabbergasted eyes. "You're serious." When I didn't say anything, he wiped his face with his hand. "Oh Spirits, this whole time I thought you were kidding."

"Who are _you_?" I asked angrily. He wasn't any Zuko, let me tell you! Sure, he probably had a woman back at home, but the Prince was _my_ man, and this 'Jee' guy wasn't anywhere near as handsome as him. Plus he sent off bad vibes that I couldn't figure out.

He rolled his eyes and sighed irritably. "I'm Jee, Zuko's first mate."

I sneered at him before I closed my eyes, crossing my arms. "Well, my word. I can't believe that you're talking to your _Princess_ like this."

Jee scowled at me. "Even half dead, you still have a mouth like a Komodo-Rhino."

My scowl was sent right back at him, and this lasted for a while. Finally, the doctor cut through and gave a death glare to Jee. "You, _sir_, are not helping the patient. I would recommend that all of you leave."

Uncle bent down next to me and kissed my forehead. "Sleep well, Sunshine. I will be back later today to check up on you."

"What time is it?" I asked, rubbing my eye and yawning. "It feels so early…"

Zuko nodded to the men as they walked out the door. Now it was only him, the doctor, and Uncle in the room with me. "It's two in the morning."

I laid my head back and put my hands under my pillow. "Oh…sorry to wake you all."

He nodded and rubbed his face with his hand. "Yeah. It's no problem." Right before he walked out the door with Uncle, he leaned over and whispered, "Are you sure I should be doing this?"

Uncle nodded and lowered his voice. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but he probably thought that he shouldn't have told me that he was my husband because I was so confused. Well, I was okay with him being my husband, even though I didn't know exactly how we'd met, or when we'd fallen in love, but every time I saw him my heart beat faster and something in me wanted to kiss him, so I supposed that it was a good thing.

Zuko's eye twitched. "She would do that?" he asked, looking back at me to make sure I was asleep. Which I wasn't, but I also hadn't heard what Uncle had asked.

"Most likely," Uncle confirmed, nodding his head. "She's not the same woman you remember."

"Because now she acts as if she is under medication, she's so jubilant?"

"Not what I meant. Her views are changed, and she's more vulnerable. Just make her comfortable and show her things that might make her remember something."

_**Zuko**_

Zuko walked into the dark, candle-lit room after his training that night to check up on her. There on the bed, he saw the most beautiful creature he could imagine.

And he was pretending to be married to her.

He walked over to the bed and sat next to her stomach. She looked so defenseless lying there. Her hair was tied up in a purple hair tie, two braids hanging down the side of her face, and he wondered how difficult it was to have put that up with one hand. Then he pictured himself untying it and running his hands through that silky, thick hair.

He shook his head.

The Prince of the Fire Nation shouldn't be having thoughts like that about a _peasant_. She was just a beauty, lying there, and it was a shame that she wasn't a noble's daughter. Besides, eh had only kissed her once, it wasn't as if he had any claim on her whatsoever. He'd been intoxicated at the time, too, so it meant _nothing_.

He jumped when she started to stir.

She opened her bright yellow eyes and smiled at him. Except that now her eyes seemed..._normal_. They were more like those of a normal Fire nation citizen, just...topaz. "I've been waiting for you." Emiko sat up in the bed, careful with her waist, and put her legs over the edge. Then she got up and turned to face him.

Zuko watched, stunned, as she pulled off a robe that was covering her. Instead of the bandages that she had on before, now she was wearing a robe top that cut down low and opened wide at the end of her arms. It was purple and matched the tie she had in her hair. Around her waist was a pink obi, and her pant was only a scrap of cloth.

"Do you like it?" she asked, turning around in a circle, blushing delicately. "I put it on just for you."

Zuko stared embarrassingly. She had lost weight over the past few months, making her waist only slightly slimmer. But the robe made her breasts look larger than they were and somehow slimmed down her large, square hips, and her legs were rather long for someone so short. Later, he figured that he spent too much time looking at those legs.

So he made himself notice that she didn't have her cast on. "Are you _crazy_?"

"_What_?" she asked, a rather depressed look marring her beautiful face.

He ran over to her and sat her down on the bed, kneeling beside her right arm. "You took off your cast!"

"No, the doctor did," she clarified, turning her nose up at him. "It's healed."

"I don't believe you," he growled, turning her arm around in his hands. Her skin burnt the palm of his hands, but he paid no attention. "There's no _way_." Her entire arm had been shattered less than two days ago!

Nothing made _sense_!

She looked at him, insulted. "The doctor said that this was the first day I was awake during sunup, and that some unknown force helped heal my arm. He was amazed and apparently it was a miracle. Now it's just a little sore, that's all."

He looked at her, narrowing his eyes and running his fingers up the soft skin of her arm unconsciously, the thing he was trying not to do. "Are you _sure_?"

Emiko stood up and pulled him with her. She rotated her arm in a slow circle, just grimacing once. "See? Just sore."

He sighed. Now was the part that he had to force himself to do. "Well, if you're going to be okay, then I had better get back to work." But he would rather stay with the midnight beauty in front of him. Her eyes disconcerted him now, though.

"What?" she asked, grabbing his hand and intertwining their fingers. "Oh, no! You need to rest."

He ignored how soft her skin was. "Well, if you think that, then I should probably get back to my room."

She laughed with a bell-ish tone, and he found himself falling into it. "You silly man! If we're married, then we should share a room!"

He froze in his spot. This was exactly what he was trying to keep from happening. "Uh, um…listen, Emiko…"

"Because if you _are_ mine, then I want you to _be_ mine," she explained, trapping him up against the wall. She wrapped her arms around his neck and started kissing it persuasively. But since she was so short, she had to stand up on her tiptoes. Her lips left blazing spots on his neck, like she was burning him all the way through.

"Emiko," he breathed into her ear, putting his hands on her hips unconsciously. "Listen, Emiko, I have to go." He was a horrible person for allowing even this. Horrible, horrible, horrible.

She looked up to him with big, golden eyes. Dark golden eyes. "But think about it…we're alone,"—she kissed his lips softly, sending an shock through his veins—"it's nighttime,"—she kissed him again, this time parting his lips with hers—"and of course, I dressed up _just for you_."

He instinctively wrapped his arms around her, relaxing without meaning to, pulling her soft, tiny body against his. Her lips were replaced on his, and he could feel the fire within him, melting the bones in his body. He pushed his lips harder against hers, letting her trace his lips with her tongue.

There was something in his mind that told him to stop, but he couldn't force himself to. Her skin seemed to burn less and less, and then it felt as if all of her fire was inside of him instead.

"See?" she asked softly against his lips after she had forced him to slow down. He shivered from the coldness of her skin now, sensing that she had in fact transferred her energy into that kiss. He rubbed his thumb against her swollen lips, looking at the slightly red tint they had, as did her cheeks. "Didn't I tell you?" Her breath was hot and sweet as it caressed his skin, and he wanted to pull her closer once more and make his way over to the bed. She nibbled his neck as she kept seducing him. "…All work and no play is no _fun_."

His brain started working suddenly, and he pulled out even though he didn't want to. "No." He ached at losing the proximity.

"Huh?" she asked, her arms still in the place where they would've been if he were still there. "Zu-Zu, what are you talking about?" She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist from behind. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his shoulder.

The heat was back. _As if it was ever gone in the first place._

"You need to loosen up. Come on and sit on the bed with me," she pleaded with those full, luscious lips and beautiful gold eyes.

But they weren't _her_ eyes, and he had to remember that.

"I'm sorry, Emiko," he lied as he clenched his fists to his sides. "But the doctor said that…" He paused, trying to clear the blush from his face. "That we can't sleep together until you're better."

She raised an eyebrow and pulled away from him, coming to stand in front of him and putting both hands on her hips. "Oh really? And how come he didn't tell _me_ this?"

"Well, it's kind of embarrassing for a man to tell a woman that she can't sleep with her husband."

"So it's okay for a man to tell another man that he can't sleep with his wife? I highly doubt that." A twinkle of happiness was in her eyes.

"Emiko, let's just say that you aren't right in the head. Just think about the consequences!"

The room instantly went silent. She sat down on the bed, crossed one leg over the other, the happiness gone, and had a really pissed-off look on her face, along with a little confusion.

But mostly pissed.

"I'm going to let the first one slide. Not right in the head my ass. And about the second one, I wasn't talking about _that_! I was talking about you just sleeping in the same bed with me. How bad is that?"

Zuko wanted to palm his forehead. She was so innocent. She had no idea what she was doing to his self control, and what not having her right now was doing to his body. "Well, you should be more careful. Iroh would be furious with me if I let anything happen to you." _And so could I, with that kind of thinking._

Emiko put her hand to her head and shook it. He saw a flash of her old self for a moment before it wen away. "What…?"

"I said that—"

"_No_, I know what you _said_," she snapped, grabbing her head. He didn't notice that for the first time since she lost her memory, she was getting her attitude back.

"What did I do to deserve this," he growled under his breath, ignoring his "wife's" sudden struggle with whatever she was doing. Now she was sitting down on the bed. "I must have kicked Sabretooth-Moose-Lion cubs in a past life or something."

"_What_?" she asked again, looking up at him with the most curious of eyes. "I...I'm so..." There was another flash of the original Emiko, so he tried to think of something that would trigger her memory.

"What you can do to make me trust you is to tell me the truth," he said to her, standing over her exactly. She tried to talk again, but he put a finger to her lips. "The thing that I can't stand about you is that I can't figure you out, which disturbs me to no end, and you can get under my skin and stun me into silence at the same time. And I know that you've been trying to help, but you are a _huge_ distraction to me." He took her chin in his hand, gently bringing her eyes up to his. "More than you should know."

She looked very confused and upset, pushing his hand off of her face and standing up, moving to get away form him. She was breathing heavily, almost hyperventilating as her memories came back, surrounding her, drowning her.

"Zuko, I think...my memories are back," she said softly, and she turned around, fear of a great extent in her eyes that he'd never seen before.

He exhaled, thanking the Spirits that she would be fine. "Thank Agni," he sighed, smiling gently at her. "I was actually thinking that we might have to—"

"YOU ASSHOLE!" she screamed, sending a fist straight towards him.

_**Emiko**_

This time I didn't feel the cartilage crunch, but it sure did feel good to feel my hand rammed against his face. As soon as he was on the ground, I turned around and found a pair of pants to put on. Heat filled my face to where I thought I would die of fire.

Zuko put his hand up to his face to check for anything broken. Believe me, when I was through with him, _everything_ would be broken. After I pulled on the pants, I jumped straight on him. (I wasn't a harlot, I wasn't going to jump on him with that scrap of power.)

"BASTARD!" I yelled, putting my hands around his neck and squeezing with all my might. I was going to wring his damned little neck, no matter if I couldn't even wrap my hands all the way around it or that he was at least ten times stronger than me. "I can't BELIEVE you _DID_ THAT!"

"_Emiko_!" Zuko yelled before grabbing my wrists and pulling them away from his throat. "Enough!"

Tears of anger welled in my eyes. "I'm going to skin you _alive_!" Oh, and I was already thinking of ten ways to do it, each one worse and worse.

He turned his body and threw me to the side of the room. Right after he stood up, he made a dash for the door. He was barely out before I followed him.

"COWARD! Don't run away from a _fight_!"

Men opened their doors, looking after us when we ran past. Then they followed after we left their corridor.

Finally, I had him cornered on the deck. "Face me, you damn asshole!" I yelled at him, curling my hands into fists. "No, you don't even deserve to be called an ass. You're the _shit_ that comes _out_ of the asshole!" my head was swimming right now. With those glass shards that had been embedded into my entire body, I was tingling from pain all over. No matter that my arm was somehow healed, it still tingled too.

At that moment, Uncle came down the stairs that led to the helmsman's quarters. "Zuko, what did you do now?" he asked accusingly, pushing through the crowd of men that accumulated.

"I didn't do…"—he dodged a punch sent straight at his head—"_anything_!"

"Oh yeah?" I asked, kneeing him in the stomach. _Damn. I should've aimed lower._ "What about telling me that I'm your wife, huh?" I grabbed his ponytail and pulled his head up to look in my eyes. "Or how about leading me on? HUGH!" My forehead rammed into his.

He fell over onto the ground, and I stood over him in a Firebending stance. My fist was pointed directly at his lips. I planned to burn his off first, and then mine. Right before I attacked, Uncle grabbed me around the waist from behind. Then it took three more grown men to hold me down. They didn't want me to 'mutilate' the prince.

"How many times do I have to _tell_ you?" I screamed angrily after they questioned me for about an hour. "I wasn't going to _mar_ his ass, I was going to KILL him!"

The pile of men on top of my back had to struggle to keep from being thrown off.

"Get OFF me!" I yelled at them, breathing heavily in order to get oxygen and to feel my wound, which was completely numb. "…You're killing my back."

Doc came up to the pile and quickly pulled them all off of me except for Uncle. "That's enough you lowlifes. Let the patient be."

"No," Jee protested, taking Uncle's place and holding my hands behind my back. "If we _let her be_, then she'll kill the Prince."

"As she should have right to," Uncle agreed, stroking his beard.

"WHAT?" Zuko asked, enraged. "Uncle, why are you taking her side?"

I grinned maniacally, feeling myself letting my wild-child take over. Well, technically, it'd already been in control. I wasn't a violent person, really, but ever since I'd been with the Pirates, then with the Freedom Fighters, it had just gained more and more hold in my mind.

"Emiko, you _know _that what happened wasn't my fault," he said, slinking backwards as if knowing that I was slightly insane. "It was _you_ who did it!"

I rewound to when I had woken up and saw that—even though I had been on drugs—that it was _me_ who reached up and kissed him. "I was on _painkillers_, Zuko," I reminded him. But the thoughts inside my head kept nagging, and I looked at it again. I should have been grateful that I could remember anything at all, but I was slightly disgusted.

"_You silly man! If we're married, then we should share a room, not to mention a bed together!"_

"_Because if you **are** mine, then I want you to **be** mine."_

"_But think about it…we're alone, it's nighttime, and of course, I dressed up **just for you**."_

"_See? Didn't I tell you? All work and no play is no **fun**."_

And then there were the multiple times I _kissed_ him… "That wasn't my fault!" I yelled, trying to rush forward again. "I was under the impression that we were _married_. You know, 'married'?"

Zuko scowled and seemed to cringe. "That wasn't my fault either, _Uncle_." The Prince gave his elder a reproachful look.

Iroh grinned guiltily as he scratched the back of his head. "Well, that was only to keep Emiko from accusing us of staying with her un-chaperoned."

"Is that all?" I asked sardonically. I turned towards the man holding me and gave him a death glare. "Would you let me go? Besides, there was also the time he was _drunk_." Zuko's eyes widened, and he bit his lip before he said anything he would regret saying. "It was a momentary weakness, Jee. Let me go."

"Is that what you thought that was?" Zuko asked, walking forwards. His eyes were now serious, but there was something..._something_ in his eyes. "A _moment of weakness_?"

I closed my eyes and turned away from him. "I don't have to explain myself to you. _Especially_ not you." The next thing I did was look at Iroh. "I'm sorry, Uncle, for this disruption. I know that you were probably sleeping."

"Not at all, Sunshine," he told me lovingly. He shooed Jee away and took my hand in his, noticing that I was shivering. He gave me a questioning look, and then gasped slightly. "Ah. We need to get you inside. I wouldn't want you to catch chill."

I actually _was_ shivering, and I was ready to go to sleep. But I decided that I needed to tell him about the dreams I had been having. So, I willingly followed him as he guided me to my cabin. Besides, I felt so downcast now that the adrenaline of my anger was gone.

"Zuko, what did you do to get her so pissed at you anyways?" I heard Jee ask as I walked away.

He didn't answer before storming off to his own quarters.

My room felt stuffy as Iroh sat with me, brushing out my hair. His fingers were cool against my skin, and I let him do as he had always done when I had been a child.

Brain spinning, I couldn't control the thoughts in my head. Each kiss had sent a tingle up my spine, and it still did as I sat there. When he had kissed back, I felt like I was flying through time and space! It was so wondrous…

I could still feel his lips against mine, and I shivered from the feeling. For some reason whenever I touched him, he didn't flinch like other people did. He ignored the abnormal heat radiating from my body and accepted me for a regular person.

If only he were right.

When I kissed Zuko, he seemed to take the heat right out of my body. I still wasn't sure if it was all the way back yet, either. I shivered.

Nope, not yet.

"Uncle," I said softly, pulling away from the brush and pushing my hair behind my ears, turning to him. I couldn't meet his eyes, though. "I need to talk to you about something."

"Of course, Sunshine," he said, nodding his head. He must have been able to sense that it was serious, because he put down the brush and focused all of his attention on me. "What is wrong?"

"I didn't say that anything was wrong," I said, but he must have known because he looked at me with those knowing eyes, and when Iroh does that you know that he knows. "Well...I'm having dreams again."

He put his hand on mine, and I noticed that he didn't flinch at my touch, either. "Which one, my child?"

I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself. The dreams were painful, of course, because all of them were about some point in my life or another. Just recently, "drowning" and "kidnapping" had been added to my dreams. "All of them. But mostly the one about my mother."

Iroh looked strangely stoic, and he gently squeezed my hand. "I can make you a tea for dreamless sleep, child."

"No, its actually...I want the opposite of it," I whispered, not understanding my own fascination with a past that I wanted to forget. Lately, though, I'd been able to see more of my past, remember more of conversations that my mother and father had had. At the time, I hadn't been old enough to know what had been going on.

But now that I was older, and my sixteenth birthday was coming up...I hadn't known much before, but it seemed to me like things were getting pretty strange. Like how I could sense power in a person, now. Or how my fire was almost completely white, or the worst part, how information just suddenly popped into my head at the worst times.

Speaking of that, what _was_ a Spirit in training, anyways? I needed the answer, but I was afraid that Iroh would know way too much about the subject, and I wasn't even sure if I wanted to know the truth.

Not yet, anyways.

Not yet.

* * *

**Well, this used to just be a senseless filler, but then I decided, "Hey, nothing needs to be just a filler, so Emiko is going to ask Iroh for help about her dreams!" Pretty soon you'll get a look into Emiko's dreams, and more than one of her scary personalities...**

**So, here's a look into the next chapter, "The Past: Part I," labeled, "The Blue Spirit:"**

I heard Zhao yelling at his men, even though I couldn't see him or them. "Quick! Recover the Avatar!" he was yelling over and over. I was just hoping that he wouldn't yell, _"Quick, recover my daughter!"_

The main gate opened and a crowd Fire Nation soldiers emerged, running towards the dust cloud. I could see that much, at least. And my super-hearing really hurt at the moment. I was dazed, my head hurt, and I'd blackened out for at _least_ five minutes.

I worried about the oncoming men, and Aang looked at me as if I were crazy. "You don't have time," I said harshly, pushing him down the path. "Go! Leave! I'll take care of him." I leaned down and grabbed the man under the arms, but it was very, very difficult to move the dead weight. And, as I was moving him, the blue mask simply...fell.

Familiar black hair spilled over my hands, and I looked at him in horror. Zuko was lying, unconscious in my arms, and I couldn't do anything to save either of us. I wasn't strong enough, I was just a little girl, I needed help, and I was so tired...

I realized that I needed him.


	12. The Past: Part I

**The next few chapters are all about Emiko's past, and in each one, she does something that's a little more than crazy. Very, very slowly, she is losing her mind. This one is slightly less about her past, but you'll see that she isn't who she thinks she is. She's got a side of her that comes out every so often, that even _she_ doesn't know about... Oh, and this is probably one of my most FAVORITE chapters ever, mmkay?3**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender. Because I love Dante Basco, and we would be hanging out all the time if I did.**

* * *

**The Past: Part I**

**The Blue Spirit**

Zuko's ship steamed through water, leaving land in its wake. I didn't really want to leave that land, but then again, I _never_ wanted to leave land. Zuko himself stood over his Lieutenant's shoulder in the helm looking at a map, while I gazed at the Pai Sho board beneath me. It was me, Uncle, and a few of the men, but none of them were a match for the two of us and we were wiping them out.

Lieutenant Jee and Zuko were both talking about the Avatar, _again_, and I mumbled irately under my breath as I took in some more money from the men. One of these days I was going to have to let them win, really, or they would be out of money.

Jee pointed at a map of the world that he was holding. He pointed at a part of the map witch indicated that we were currently at the northwest extremity of the Earth Kingdom, close to the eastern most extremity of the Northern Air Nomad lands. I did have to say, that about all of the strange things that had been happening to me lately, that the enhanced eyesight, hearing, and sense of smell were pretty cool.

Not that I was going to say that I was enjoying any of this, or even thinking about it, but the healing abilities, the fire, the agility...

Jee pointed out another route, discussing at how we could get to the North Pole quicker than the Avatar if we took it. Apparently the Avatar needed a Waterbending master. But after that he would also need earth and fire, as well. And he only had a year to do it in. "But, if we continue heading northeast…"

The Lieutenant was cut off as his light was blocked by an enormous shadow. We all looked up at the intrusion of sunlight to see that it was another Fire Navy ship, a massive, _hulking _thing as it passed us to starboard and headed in the opposite direction. Everyone on Zuko's bridge stared at it.

Finally the Prince said something to break the awkward silence, and he frowned. "What do _they _want?"

Uncle Iroh became cheery, forgetting that this was possibly the worst position I could be in. "Perhaps a sporting game of Pai Sho!"

I laughed coldly, nervously. "Yeah, right… _Pai Sho_." So what if my father's herald was coming in off of his navy ship? So what if he would know that I was still with the Prince of the Fire Nation? It served him right, knowing that I was working with his enemy.

Now that I was fuming, the familiar-looking note-taker who followed all of my father's orders was walking into the bridge. He looked at me with a hairy eyeball as if contemplating the money reward he would get for bringing me in. The men around me, though, were set to attack if need-be.

Sighing, the thin, wiry man unrolled a scroll with a wanted poster of Aang on it. Apparently he had memorized it, because he looked at the sour Prince's face with his own bored one, clearing his throat. "The hunt for the Avatar has been given prime importance," he cried before he lowered the scroll and glared each man on the ship directly in the eyes. "All information regarding the Avatar must be reported directly to Admiral Zhao."

General Iroh moved a piece on the Pai Sho table. He acted as if nothing was wrong with the fact that my horrible, horrendous father had gotten promoted! Like he didn't even deserve! "Zhao has been promoted again? Well, good for him!"

Iroh's opponents looked chagrined at the move and slapped their faces in disgust. I normally had a good poker face, but I was upset at his congratulations to Zhao and at the fact that it had been a very good move.

Zuko had been standing there, the anger evident on his face. In fact, he looked as I probably did, except that with his scar he had a little bit more scare factor in it. "I've got nothing to report to Zhao," he finally growled out, looking out his ship's window and glaring at Zhao's. "Now get off my ship and let us pass."

The Herald moved his scroll back to his face with a snooty look. He gave me more of a look that said, _Oh, the money, just sitting there._ "Admiral Zhao is not allowing ships in or out of this area."

Zuko's face turned completely rotten, and there went that vein right of the bat. He'd been getting better at controlling his anger, but then again I wasn't sure if he was still over the hangover from last week. "Off my ship!"

Uncle smiled as the man left, his hairy eyeball still on me. "Excellent!" he cried as he gathered all of the money on the board. I had just given up about halfway through. "I take the pot! But really, you're all improving! I'm certain you will win if we play again…"

I sighed and glanced at him. Ever since the dance, he hadn't said one word to me about the marriage fiasco or his drunken stupor, and I hadn't said anything to him either. We hadn't spoken to anyone else about it, either. It was really hard, being around a person you really hated but then you felt something for. I'd heard about couples who had always been at each other's throats, who had never thought of each other that way until they kissed, or they had gotten together.

_Well_, I thought, sighing as I put some more of my money into the pot, _there is a fine line between love and war._

_**Later...**_

I knew that tonight was going to be a new moon. How? Well, just an instinct as I watched the sun dip below the waves. It set off the last of the golden hues that I loved, which would soon be gone, but the waves reflected the pinks and oranges, and I stared down into them. Water still scared me, yes, but I had people around who could help me if anything went wrong.

The bowsprit was usually where I decided to sit at the end and beginning of every day, no matter how scared I was about the water, and the only days that I didn't sit there were days that were rainy. And, well, I hated to say it, but this was about the time that Zuko practiced Firebending every day. I could feel the heat of the fire dimming as the sun set, but the power behind his jets of flames still was strong.

Why hadn't we worked our problems out? Why hadn't we just talked to each other about the kissing? We'd pretty much ignored each other since it had happened, and I didn't like how things were just left hanging in the air. Every so often I would find him looking at me, but he would look away before he could meet my eyes. I missed talking to him, even if he did get on my nerves and we ended up fighting. Heck, I even missed our fighting, if only he would talk to me!

I felt Uncle's presence join that of Zuko's. I could tell that it was Uncle because a sense of peace fell over me, and I could finally be calm. The old General's soothing voice was asking, "Is everything okay?" I was asking myself that same question. His Firebending had been rather...I don't know, _depressed_ today. Could Firebending be depressed? I guessed so. "It's been almost an hour and you haven't given the men an order."

Zuko stopped practicing, and I stopped looking at the sun to look at him. His shirt was off, and for some reason a chill of pleasure ran up my back. Perspiration covered him from head to foot, making him shine in the light of the ending day. He was looking out to sea, a blank expression on his face. "I don't care what they do."

That statement struck me deep. I don't know if it was the way he said it or the words themselves, but I felt really sad for him all of a sudden. I came out of my silence and stepped over to him. This would hurt my pride, me being the first to speak. "Don't give up hope yet, Zuko," I told him, only a few feet away as I stood next to Iroh. His back stiffened the second the first word came out of my mouth. "…You can still find the Avatar before Zhao." I rolled my lower lip in and bit it, then flinched a little at the look he gave me. It was so desperate that I could have wept, and his face was set in a pain that I wasn't sure I knew.

"How, Emiko?" he asked softly, and I wanted to reach out, take his hand, _hug_ him or _something, _damn it! "With Zhao's resources, it's just a matter of time before he captures the Avatar." He turned back out to sea, and I finally gave in to my urge to touch him. I let my fingertips gently touch his back, though he didn't flinch at my touch. "My honor, my throne, my country…I'm about to lose them all."

"Don't say that," I begged, wishing that I could show him some kind of comfort, which I knew that I couldn't do as long as we were out in the open. I'd never seen him like this, so depressed, so upset...it wasn't him.

It was then that I knew what I had to do.

_**Later...**_

Sneaking out had been pretty easy. I was always restless during the full moon, while other Firebenders were usually knocked out cold. So I sneaked out with gear, dressed all in black, and was out to sea in less than ten minutes from my starting time.

The rickety boat scared the crap out of me, to tell the truth. It was supposed to be able to hold over ten grown men, but just my weight walking around on it made it groan and wobble. I sat down right in the center as I pathetically paddled to shore, praying to whatever unfortunate God or Goddess who watched over me to please let me live while I was doing this kind, wonderful deed.

I knew that my father had the Avatar. It was a simple calculation, it didn't take a brain scientist to figure out that we were in Colonel Shinu's territory, and that my father had commissioned the Yu Yan. And if anyone could capture the Avatar, then they could.

Silently, I docked the boat and pulled it up on shore, expertly hiding it behind shrubs and foliage, tying it to a tree as well so that it wouldn't float away on the incoming tide. I'd been marooned before, once, on a full moon when the tide had come in and stolen my boat from what once had been dry land. I wasn't stupid enough to fall for the same trick twice.

My plan was already set out. I would find the nearest watchtower, commission the men to bring me in, and then somehow get the Avatar out without killing us both. So, yeah, alright, it wasn't the best of plans, but it was all that I had at the time. But I still grimaced as I got to the watchtower. It was only a tall stack of wood, really, and made me wonder if the Fire Lord was starting to be stingy with his money.

I made sure to make quite a bit of noise down below while I picked some flowers. Night lilies really weren't my thing. I'd found some beautiful flowers while over in the Earth Kingdom, and these were almost nothing in comparison. But whatever, I just needed to make noise so that they would notice me.

The two seventeen-year-old boys who were the sentries looked down with interest. Well, they looked that young, at least. It would be easier to trick them, I guessed, but it still wouldn't be easy. It was hard for me to "act" anything. I was a _horrible_ actor.

One of them shouted down to me, giving me a hairy eyeball, which I was really starting to hate.. "Halt! Who goes there?"

I looked up as innocently as I could. It was so innocent, in fact, that I wanted to gag. "I'm sorry…I just got lost…and…" My voice trailed off. _Damn, this is hard. Now I know why I didn't join that band of acting freaks._

The one who didn't speak tapped his colleague on the shoulder. "Hey, that's the Admiral's daughter! The one with a bounty on her head," he whispered obviously, his pudgy finger pointing down to me. Well, if you could call a shouted whisper a whisper. Both of them had to have been new recruits.

I frowned when I heard the rank _Admiral_, but at least he knew who I was and wasn't _completely_ and utterly an idiot. "You know my father?" I asked as innocently as I could, widening my eyes to captivate them.

"Uh…" the first one hesitated, scratching his head with a scrawny hand. "Would you care if we escorted you to him?" His lanky body was confused, as if he had heard that I was a master of avoiding and evading, but I wasn't doing it at the moment.

I made my eyes look hopeful and I clasped my hands in front of me as if I were an angel sent by Agni, which these boys probably though I was. "Oh, yes! Please! I need to get to my father!" _And, um, I sound so fake, and, ah, I can't believe I sound like this, and giggle! _Gah, I wanted to gag!

They climbed down and stood next to me, each one looking at me with curiosity. "For some reason…" the skinny one mumbled as we moved up the path without conflict, "…I pictured this being _harder_…"

_**Later...**_

This was a _massive _fortress. Men were stationed all around the walls and towers…and—of course—the front gates. This was the reason I hadn't just tried to break in. It was one thing being pinned down by a Yu Yan while trying to escape a prison, but it was another thing all together to be killed while trying to get _into_ a prison.

All of the men stared at the two Privates who had "captured" me in amazement. Half of those men had tried to capture me before, and all had failed. I recognized most by a scar here, or a set of eyes there. One of the men that I recognized at the front gate teetered on his feet nervously.

"Hi, Isamu!" I called to him, putting my hand up in the air to wave back and forth frantically. He blushed angrily.

Isamu was twenty and a Lieutenant in the military. He was also Zhao's right hand man now. Ever since I had run away, when he had first become a Midshipman, he had been assigned to my capture. Now he looked down in shame when I called his name, as if it were his fault that I had gotten away last time.

Well...technically I guess it had been his fault. I felt bad for him, I really did. He shouldn't have been hurt in his career just because I couldn't stand to be around my father.

The boys were searched to make sure that they were really Fire Nation soldiers. After the men were done checking the teens, they allowed them to pass. "They're clear!" Isamu called officially, trying to look all military-like, oh, and just for me, too. _You shouldn't have, Isamu._ He came over to me, his deep brown eyes pleading with me to be good, to not do anything wrong this time. I knew that he knew that I was up to something, but I had to act like I was really reformed.

Again, there was that "acting" word again. Did I mention that I was a _horrible_ actor?

_My Emiko-senses are tingling,_ I thought with a small chuckle as I felt my father's presence somewhere nearby. It was funny how Iroh's presence filled me with a safe feeling, while my own father's filled me with dread. His eyes widened when he saw me, and there was a hint of malice there.

I slowly walked over to him, feeling my hate for him dimming as I got nearer. He was my _father_. How could you hate someone who was only trying to do what was best? And then I wondered how I could defend him, after everything that we had both been through together.

He sighed and put a hand on my arm, looking at me with those eyes that also knew that I was trying to get something. But at the same time, there was some kind of fatherly light that shouldn't have been there. I broke down and hugged him around the waist gently, not able to meet his eyes. I felt kind of ashamed at the moment, partially because I really _had_ wanted to see him, and partially because I was ashamed of the first fact.

Zhao stood there while I hugged him softly, and he was almost stiff underneath me. Then he hesitantly wrapped his arms around my shoulders and hugged me to him. "Emiko…," he sighed into my hair softly, "what are you _doing_ here?"

I couldn't answer him. My throat was tight, my eyes burned, and I just wanted him to hug me. I hadn't seen him for two months and I'd already wanted to be near him. Strangely, I hadn't thought about "him" the entire time I'd been on the ship, but the _past_ him. The him that bought me Fire Rocks at the park, or the kind who taught me how to ride my first Komodo Rhino.

Man, I was a softy. I started crying, I was so emotional, and I only hugged him tighter, digging my face into his chest. He looked around helplessly for someone to console me, but no one was there. The soldiers were all looking at me as if I were a creature with two heads and none of them were prepared to help.

He hesitantly put an arm around my shoulder, trying to calm me down but keep on guard in case I tried anything. Well, I hated to tell him, but I wasn't fit to try anything at the moment. He started to lead me off, and I leaned into his fatherly side hug.

He sat me in a small room that only had a desk and two chairs. He sat me in the closest chair and closed the door. I could see his shoulders slump as soon as the outside world couldn't see him anymore. He sighed, wiping a hand on his face before turning to me. Was that actual pain in his eyes? "Why have you come back, Emiko? Why are you _doing_ this to me?"

Oh, Agni, like I needed this at the moment! I had been trying to hide my tears before, but now I couldn't. Since when did being with family make me so emotional? I tried to remember that I hated this man, but my heart wasn't in it. I still loved him. Heck, I was still a kid! I wanted my Daddy. "You act as if I'm nothing but a nuisance to you," I said softly, my voice cracking towards the end. _Come on, show me your temper. Be the man I know, not the past one. Because I can't do this if you aren't angry with me._

"Well recently, I'm not so sure," he said softly, and I looked up to see him crouching beside me. He put a hand gently on my face, looking into my eyes. "What has he done to you?"

_Nothing_, I thought with an inward sigh, disgruntled. _Unfortunately, nothing. _"He hasn't laid a hand on me, if that's what you're asking," I said, again wondering if my mother fell for him because of his eyes, and the sincerity that he could put into them at will. Because I knew that he didn't want me as a daughter, and no longer considered me his.

He sighed in disgust and stood up, turning his back to me. "You are just like your mother was, Emiko…always planning, always _scheming_… She never told a lie, but she never told me something if she wanted to keep it from me, either."

I flinched when he mentioned her, and for some reason the tears came to me on full force. "You don't have to bring her into this." Just the mention of her during the day, when I saw her so much during the night in my dreams, made it seem almost more cruel of him.

He got a despaired look in his eyes and changed the subject back to me. "Just tell me why you're here. I'm not as gullible as you think."

I lowered my head and laughed without humor, wiping away the vile liquid that had drained from my eyes. Beneath me, the chair was slightly burned. "I'm not so sure about that, Zhao."

He squinted his eyes as if he were hard in concentration. "Emiko…I've been thinking…" _This can't be good,_ I thought, looking at him with wary eyes. "I know that you will be turning sixteen, in a few days, actually…"

I frowned, not wanting to really think about that. "You remembered?"

"…and I think that it's time that you settled down."

I blinked my eyes a few times, then pulled on my ear, as if I hadn't heard right. "I'm sorry, I think I missed that.

"No, I'm sorry…let me rephrase that," he mumbled, holding a hand to his chin while he thought. "Really, truly, I think it's time you got out of my way. I can't handle you anymore, Emiko…so I've decided that you will settle down and start a family with one of my soldiers."

I closed my eyes and started laughing. "This is so _ridiculous_! You must be losing your _mind_! I'm not the type to settle down, you know that." _He can't be serious…_

Besides, wasn't this the same man who almost killed Eiji the first time I introduced them? Wasn't this the same man who almost put me in a chastity belt after coming home from my first dance with a dreamy look on my face?

He joined in my laughing and started circling the chair until he was behind me. "Maybe you're right, my dear," he chuckled with a shake of his head. He placed his hands on my shoulders, leaning over as if to hug me.

But suddenly he unlatched my mother's necklace, taking it. "Is it? Am I?" I jumped out of my chair and turned around, gasping as he stuck it in his pocket. "Is it? And am I?"

I gasped when he looked away, and I tried to reach for the pocket that he had placed the necklace in, but he wouldn't let me near. "You can't be serious, father!" I cried, ignoring the feeling of being closed in, of not having any room to move, the anxiety building up in me. "_Why_?"

Zhao took a chain out of his pocket and sifted through the keys. "You are getting in my way; you don't fit into the big picture I have painted," he said as he kissed me on the forehead. While walking to the door, he looked at my expression, only too see a horrified little girl as she cried in her frozen position.

This pleased him.

"Isamu will bring you some of your spare dresses to choose from. Hopefully they fit." He started to walk out the door, but he stopped halfway and turned back to me. "Oh, and _do_ get dressed, Emiko, and don't make this harder than it is. I'm giving a speech in a while, and I want you to be there." He then walked out the door, and I heard the lock click into place.

Tears welled up in my eyes again as I took out everything from my bag. "You really are losing your mind, _**Zhao**_. This mission will be an inside job, and you won't even realize it."

_Damn you. Damn you and everything I thought that maybe we could once again be._

_**U**n**k?**n**o#**_w_n**%**_

The Pohuai Stronghold was a medium-sized fortress near the Ruins of Taku. It was a supposedly terrifying place mad up of multiple stone walls surrounding a massive pagoda tower in the center of the base. It housed its own prisons and was a major supply depot for the Fire Nation armies. Three sets of thirty-foot-high walls surrounded it, complete with watchtowers connected every one hundred feet with walkways. Four giant steel gates stood between the outside and the inner sanctum.

There were several stories of the stronghold that were underground, and the captive was on the level B:7. The entire fortress held a least 1,000 soldiers, not including the Yu Yan and Imperial Guards that sometimes stayed. Three soldiers were at a post at one time, and one was never alone.

_It is manageable enough._

One unlucky man had decided to leave his post early, down in B:7. He had no idea what was happening as four perfectly-thrown daggers imbedded themselves into the wall behind him, trapping his thick bear-boar hide uniform to the wall. He quickly was not able to speak or move, and then she simply moved on, no emotion or concern filling her. His replacement, exactly on time, spotted the trussed man, though, and she had to make quick work of him, knocking off his helmet and making a slight bit more noise than she really wanted.

One man came, and she silenced him with a burst of fire, knocking him down easily. He fought back, though, and she didn't like that. She didn't like that at all. Three daggers trapped him to the floor, and out he went, much like a flame.

Alas, she had made more noise, and two more men were starting to round the corner. She knew that these men were the last guarding the prisoner's door, and she jumped up, grasping a grate above her, pulling herself up to be flat against the ceiling. It wasn't even twenty seconds before the men were directly below her, and she fell, flattening them beneath her.

Two sets of rope, gags, and daggers later, she moved ahead, turning the corner to see a man knocked out beside the door. And, as she hadn't done that herself, she became very suspicious. She leaned up to grasp the wood that held a lighting scone, pulling herself up to hide against the black of the stone walls, waiting for the intruder to show himself.

_This is my mission,_ was a thought in her one-way brain, her eyes narrowing as she listened harder, for any sort of struggle. She heard the prisoner's voice, asking whomever was in there who he was, what was going on. She waited patiently as the door slowly creaked open, before she fell in front of the intruders, looking each one in the eyes.

The prisoner was much a small boy, pale, with an Airbending Master's tattoo, dressed in rough, old, Airbender clothing. The supposed savior was tall, wearing nothing but black, and a strange blue and white mask.

She quickly produced two throwing daggers from practically nowhere, setting herself down, ready to fight for her prize. The man pulled out two Dual Dao Swords, and she switched her mind into fighting-mode, instantly remembering what they were, and what their weaknesses were. _Dao Swords are moderately curved and single-edged, though often with few inches of the back edge sharpened as well; the moderate curve allows them to be reasonably effective in the thrust. Hilts are canted, curving in the opposite direction as the blade which improves handling in some forms of cuts and thrusts. Cord is usually wrapped over the wood of the handle. _His grip was flimsy, the cord doing nothing for it. Too bad for him.

She quickly threw her daggers at him, making him push the prisoner behind him and use his swords as shields. He moved more defensively, then, which was a good thing to remember. She pulled out a close-range dagger and parried one of his defensive strokes, ducking as he finally attacked, and rushed at him from below.

Caught off-guard, the man—because he had to be a man—brought down the hilts of the swords to hit her on the back of the head, but she rolled off before he possibly could. She swung her arms around, to attempt to dislodge his grip, but she had miscalculated his grasp and he instead took a hold of her wrist instead, the other sword already in the other hand.

Angered, she swung her other arm around to hit him up under the mast, but he deflected her, rolling her over to pin her to the floor. He brought the hilt of the swords up again, one more time, but she was already prepared with a single dagger to his middle. She didn't want to wound him, but if he made her, then she would. She only had one task, and that was to capture the prisoner.

He looked at her through the mask, and she noticed that, although both eyes were a dark, cloudy topaz, one was squinted, different than the other. She could see that now, and it pained her to put the dagger she held on the floor, letting her legs relax, as well as the rest of her body. He didn't let her go for a moment, though, and she turned her head to the side, allowing him any chance to immobilize her.

But he didn't. He slowly got up, looking at her warily as he backed away, still not giving her any chance to attack back. She just stayed there, even as he took away her prisoner, even as they were both out of sight.

Finally, after checking her surroundings one more time, she got up. Leaving the shadows, she shook her head and stepped around the soldiers, running her hand over their heads teasingly as she passed.

_**Emiko**_

I felt closed in inside the walled fortress, in the hallways, even on a balcony. The walls surrounding the place were _so...impenetrable. _I still didn't have a plan to get the Avatar out, even though I'd been there a good four hours. I knew that we were on level B:7, though, which was where the Avatar was at least being held. Maybe this way I could figure out a way to get him out without killing us both.

At the moment I was walking five steps behind my father, with Isamu and his scribe behind me. I was listening to my father blabber on and on while trying to keep in a smile, which was difficult, because when I was thinking I tended to bit my lip and frown a lot. "I want a full transcription of my speech sent to the Fire Lord, along with glowing testimonials from all of the ranking officers present, and—"

He cut himself off and listened intently. As I'd been thinking, my new super-hearing hadn't picked it up yet, but now I paid attention because he had stopped in the middle of the hallway, making me run into him. Now I heard it too, and I quickly followed my father as he started rushing down the hall. At least four soldiers were lying on the floor or trussed up on the wall, unconscious or screaming behind their gags.

_Oh, look, my father has a vein just like Zuko's that pops out when he's angry_, I thought with a small frown, before I figured that I probably ought to figure out what had happened to the Avatar. If anything had happened to him...

My father then slammed open the door to the prison cell with the loudest thunder strike that I had ever heard. I peeked inside, underneath his arm, and saw that it was empty, except for a frog that croaked at him from the floor.

Zhao turned in anger and left, the three of us in tow.

"Father," I said innocently, deciding to put on the "simpering daughter" act again, hoping that it would hold off any suspicions that I was about to go search for this intruder myself, "should I hold off sending that speech to the Fire Lord?"

But it was a while before I even figured out anything. Zhao hadn't let me leave his side, and I'd been stuck with Isamu the entire time as well. He'd stood next to me, all important-like, with his chest out like a pelingcock, his feathers all ruffled. As if he should be proud to have me "supposedly" marry him!

So by the time something actually happened, I was fuming. And I guess you could say that I was the first person to spot the Avatar, but I hadn't said anything, thinking that it was something that my super-sight had screwed up, but then a soldier cried, "There, on the wall!" and everything went to Koh in a hand basket.

I zoned in on them quickly, noticing that the Avatar—who was really a small boy, with a blad head—was riding on a black-clad man's back. A soldier appeared at the top of the wall that they were climbing, I then noticed, and he cut the rope and the pair fell down the wall, Aang—the Avatar— screaming the entire way. He made a small ball of air to soften their landing, though, proving that he was, in fact, the Avatar. When the dust cleared, the strange, masked man unsheathed his swords and they ran.

I was standing next to my father on a balcony, overlooking the courtyard surrounding the fortress. I must have looked a sight, being fidgety, ready to move, to attack, to fight, to flee. My father shouting, "_The Avatar has escaped, close all the gates immediately!_" didn't help my anxiety, either. I just wanted to run and get out before the gates were closed.

They had already made it out the first gate, I'd noticed, but now my father was running, desperate to join the fight, to reclaim the Avatar once more. I finally decided, after fidgeting a little more, that I needed to join him, and I started running, picking up the skirt to my nice new dress and running quickly. Isamu was behind me, trying to catch up, but he must have tripped or he couldn't keep up, because I couldn't hear him after the first few minutes.

I followed my father out to the third wall, ready to do whatever was needed of me to get the Avatar out of the battlement. Really, if the Avatar could get out, I was sure that he could beat this one man with Dual Dao Swords.

I approached the inside of the third wall, right about the time that both of the males were falling from the wall, straight to the ground. They were quickly surrounded as the man drew his swords, and four Firebenders unleashed their flame on him. _No, don't hurt the Avatar...!_

Suddenly Aang put the masked man behind him and Airbent the flames away.

Zhao walked up behind the four men, letting me move forwards into the midst. "Hold your fire!" he called, gritting his teeth and getting that vein again. "The Avatar must be captured _alive_!"

The Blue Spirit instantly came up behind Aang and crossed his swords in front of Aang's throat, just like I would have done, had my father given away some kind of crucial information such as that.

I then stepped gently forwards, pushing back the white silk dress that he had gotten for me, (which was pretty nice, if I did say so myself, and I was sad to be about to mess it up.) I put my hand gently on his arm, looking up to him. From the corner of my eye, I noticed that the masked man held his stance differently, just for a moment, before he continued his previous one. "May I?" I asked softly, feeling myself ready to do just about anything, as long as I got the Avatar, as long as I could give him to Zuko and repay him, get that look out of his eyes...

He looked very, very hesitant, as if perhaps he couldn't sense to lose me, but I knew that _that_ wasn't the issue. "What do you have to lose?" I asked, barely audible, even to my ears.

My father gritted his teeth and nodded his head, not able to meet my eyes for the first time in a very, very long time. I then tore the bottom hem on my dress up, to allow movement. _I don't really like dresses anyways_, I told myself when I felt sad for destroying a dress that I was actually growing fond of. Besides, you can't fight with a dress dragging on the floor. I changed my stance into a Firebending one while the men behind me laughed.

Zhao silenced them.

"I have to admit, stranger…I was amazed that you made it this far," I taunted casually, tilting my head to the side to see if I could see something beneath the mask. It covered everything, though even the color of the perpetrator's eyes underneath. _Perfect,_ I thought as the man didn't move. _You will be my chance out of here._ "But…even though you made it this far…" I said cautiously, trying to get a read on him, _something_ that would tell me a quick weakness, "I'm not going to let you get any further."

The man shoved the Avatar behind him as he took a fighting stance. _Obviously he won't let the Avatar get hurt. Weakness number one, understood._

Instead of Firebending, though, like the other man was _not_ going to do, I pulled out a long, thin _Jian_ sword that I had found in the depths of the armory somewhere, and surprisingly it was well-balanced. The man positioned his broadswords in response. His stance seemed hesitant, which I knew meant that he wasn't focused as well as he could have been. (For some reason, a few men had problems fighting women. Psh.) I knew that I would have to make the first move, so I quickly jabbed. He was very off-balance, because when he parried and moved to attack, I easily dodged his mediocre move and cut a long slash on the forehead of his mask, making another in the next second, so that a large _X_ was between his eyes.. He stood back, stunned.

It didn't take long for him to regain composure, though, and we thrust our swords at each other. Seeing as how he had two swords and I had one, he had the upper hand. Slowly but steadily, he forced me back. I started to panic, anxiety welling up inside of me, because it reminded me of when Barker had been attacking me, and it made everything build up inside until I was ready to burst.

When I saw my chance, I thrust my sword at him. But he was two steps ahead of me. He used his two blades to catch my sword and seize it from my hands. After I was defenseless, he used his leg in a roundhouse kick that almost threatened to knock me out, but then...

_**Zuko**_

What in Koh's name was Emiko thinking? How in the world had Zhao captured her again, how had she _let_ him, how had she gotten off the _ship_! At first, he'd been too shocked to move, but now he was furious, even if he did feel bad as he knocked her onto her back.

The temperature instantly dropped at least twenty degrees, and the Avatar behind him started chattering his teeth. Zhao, behind Emiko, was frowning deeply, his eyes slightly frantic. He'd seen that look somewhere before, but for some reason he couldn't remember exactly _where_...

Down on the ground, where Zuko had left Emiko for unconscious, he saw her stir and wanted to sigh, but he didn't. If he could just get her out safely, as well as the Avatar..._ Damn her for ruining this!_

She slowly sat up, using one hand to rub at her head where it had impacted the hard ground. It took her a moment to open her eyes, and when she did, Zuko couldn't believe his eyes. Her fair skin started glowing, making it almost translucent, and her eyes were a bright, evil red. She stood up, all emotion completely gone from her face, from her body..._everything._

Somehow she got up off the ground without using any actual effort, and she looked at him with those emotionless red eyes, and he felt a very, very bad feeling coming over him. It was only amplified when she screamed in fury and grabbed back her sword, spinning around as she created a circle of White Fire around them.

Zuko blocked all of the fire that he could with his Dao swords, feeling them heating up under his hands. He worried for a moment that she might melt them, what with the power and heat that she put behind it, but she stopped suddenly, and he took a moment to look at her enraged, empty face. He hadn't seen that kind of look on her face, ever. And he didn't think that he wanted to see her with it ever again.

She started to fire at him again, making him lose his ground, and he thought that all would be lost because she had betrayed him. But, just as he had thought about that, just as she was about to deal the final blow, her body lost its glow, and the temperature returned to normal. The last thing that was as it should have been were her eyes, which for a moment were confused, with a little bit of pure horror. Her legs started shaking underneath her, and Zuko reached forwards to catch her before she could fall and hurt herself even more. He then grabbed the Avatar and put them side-by-side in front of each other, and then crossed his swords in front of the both of them.

Zhao gritted his teeth and frowned in what Zuko thought might have been anger, horror, and perhaps something else. "Open the gate."

A tall, dark-haired man with angry brown eyes looked at the Admiral as if he had two heads. "Admiral, what are you _doing_?"

"Let them out, _now_!" Zhao yelled, grasping the man's shirt and shoving him out of his way.

The gate opened and the Blue Spirit backed out with his captives, swords still at their throats.

_**Isamu**_

He couldn't believe that Zhao had just let them leave. Emiko was...well, for lack of a better word, _his_, and Zhao should have known to keep her near. He went to stand behind his superior, soon to be his father-in-law, in the right tower above the gates. "How could you let them go?" Isamu knew more than anyone that the Admiral was not a letting-go kind of man.

Zhao smiled wickedly, that smile that made Isamu feel insecure. "A situation like this requires precision."

The Blue Spirit continued to back away from the fortress, his promotion and his soon-to-be-wife still captured.

"Do you have a clear shot?" Zhao asked one of his Yu Yan Archers, who didn't respond, but lowered his head in preparation for his shot. "Knock out the thief. I'll deliver him to the Fire Lord along with the Avatar…after I wipe Emiko's memory."

_Wipe…Emiko's memory?_ Isamu wondered as he watched the exhausted girl stumble away. She wasn't even fighting back. _What is she doing?_ He'd worried about her, while she'd been fighting him, but that _power_...what had it been?

The archer waited a moment longer before he released his arrow, which hit its target directly. The Avatar turned in horror as his savior fell, his eyes glazed. He recovered and turned around to Airbend a huge cloud of dust around him, the Blue Spirit, and Emiko.

_**Emiko**_

I heard Zhao yelling at his men, even though I couldn't see him or them. "Quick! Recover the Avatar!" he was yelling over and over. I was just hoping that he wouldn't yell, _"Quick, recover my daughter!"_

The main gate opened and a crowd Fire Nation soldiers emerged, running towards the dust cloud. I could see that much, at least. And my super-hearing really hurt at the moment. I was dazed, my head hurt, and I'd blackened out for at _least_ five minutes.

I worried about the oncoming men, and Aang looked at me as if I were crazy. "You don't have time," I said harshly, pushing him down the path. "Go! Leave! I'll take care of him." I leaned down and grabbed the man under the arms, but it was very, very difficult to move the dead weight. And, as I was moving him, the blue mask simply...fell.

Familiar black hair spilled over my hands, and I looked at him in horror. Zuko was lying, unconscious in my arms, and I couldn't do anything to save either of us. I wasn't strong enough, I was just a little girl, I needed help, and I was so tired...

_**Zhao**_

He saw absolutely nothing. It didn't matter that this...this _thing_ had stolen his once chance at glory, but it had gone one step further and had stolen his daughter away again, giving him even more to deal with than he really needed. Isamu, beside him, was fidgeting like a lost puppy, and he cupped the man upside the ear.

"I told you to keep an eye on her," he growled at the man, hating the way he quivered under Zhao's stare. "She is your responsibility, Captain, and you just let her..." Zhao pushed his soon-to-be-son-in-law away from him, angered at not only Isamu's incompetence, but also his own.

He gripped the railing, almost breaking it, as a frog hopped up onto the railing and croaked in his face. He looked at it, thinking that perhaps he would toast the frog to a crisp, but it croaked again and jumped down, leaving him alone.

_Fitting._

* * *

**Hmmm...questions, questions. Who is the Red Spirit, and what was with that freak-out of Emiko's? Oh, and Isamu, her soon-to-be-suitor...hmm...**

**Well, only I know the answers!(: Buahaha(:**

**So, onto the next chapter, titled "The Past Part II: Contact with the Spirits:"**

"How do you know this?" I asked, tears choking my throat again. "And why didn't the sun die when my mother did?"

"We know this because the sun _did_ die, long, long ago," Kyoshi stepped in. "Three Fire Avatars ago, the Sun Spirit fell in love with him. They fought by each other in the biggest battle of history, but in the end the Sun Spirit fell."

Yangchen looked down and away, remembering the sight apparently. "The Avatar of Fire gave his life for hers, so that she may see the light of day again. It wasn't until a moment after that she found that she was pregnant…with twins."

"Girl twins, to be exact," Roku corrected.

"But you didn't answer my second question," I mumbled, thinking about them not wanting to tell me exactly what had happened. They didn't want to hurt me, pain me any further. But if I was to be some kind of Sun Spirit, or whatever word kept popping into my mind, then I needed to know. And whatever the word was, it was in some language that I'd only ever glimpsed, and that was what it roughly translated to. "Sun Spirit."

"As long as a 'trainee' as you call it is birthed, it does not matter if the mother dies or not," Kuruk explained.

**&%$#$? What the heck? Avatars? Well, you'll just have to read on(:**


	13. The Past: Part II

**Well, I've been pretty sick this past few days, so sorry for the delay. When I'm sick, I force myself away from the computer. But hey, what can you do? The next chapter might be more than two/three days, but it'll be here within the next week(: **

**Sooo...this chapter is rather...strange. It was one of those that kind of just "happened," but it REALLY fit well with the story, so...yeah. Here ya go!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender. I would so own puppet!Zuko and puppet!Appa.**

* * *

**The Past Part II**

**Contact with the Spirits**

It was kind of cold out, I noticed. Though that might have been because of what had happened in the past hour. I looked up to see Aang, the Avatar, just a boy, sitting down on a root. Zuko and I had just gotten him out of a fortress of Fire Nation soldiers, and he looked a little shaken. Well..._Zuko_ had gotten him out of a fortress of Fire Nation soldiers. I, on the other hand, had pretty much just gotten in the way. At least I could do something now, while I applied a cream to Zuko's forehead where the arrow—and my sword—had hit him, something that was _productive._

I almost wanted to cry. If I had just stayed out of the way, and not tried to do things on my own, Zuko would've gotten away. I gently ran my thumb over his cheekbone, wishing that he would wake up, yell at me, fight with me, _anything_ but this.

The Avatar, with his grey eyes, childish-face, and sincere smile, smiled at me. I didn't deserve it, though, and I looked away in shame. "I'm Aang," he said softly, moving to sit in front of me. "I know its a little late, but who are you?"

"Emiko," I said softly, staring down into Zuko's face. "I'm with him."

"O-oh."

I looked up into his panic-stricken face, and then it hit me what I said, "Oh, well, not like _that_. I'm not after you. Iroh, he's my guardian at the moment."

He let out a pent-up breath, smiling at me with childish-glee. "Oh, good." I wondered, even though that he was such a small child, about how he could be so happy, especially with everything that had happened. And then he asked me the question that I'd been dreading. "What was with all of that in there? Why were you fighting him if you guys were on the same team?"

"I didn't know that it was him." _Oh, and I'm so sorry about that._ I just wanted to lean down and hug him, take him into my arms and apologize. For keeping my secrets, for making it so hard on him to keep me aboard. I hadn't made it easy on him. "I'm so sorry Aang…I was so into getting myself—and you—out of there, that I didn't think of anyone's safety."

"It's not your fault," he told me before his sincere face turned to one of utter amazement. "But your Firebending was _incredible_! What did you do—I mean, how did you—_wow_!"

I looked down and away. Tears of shame stung at my eyes, and I furiously wiped them away before they could fall. Crying didn't fit me, it really didn't. "I'll _never _do it again."

Aang looked at me with concern. "Why not?"

"I hate being like that. It's only happened one other time, and I…I just never want to do it again. I'm not in control…and I get all that power…I'm just glad that it wasn't the daytime…" My words became sobs.

Aang, being the Avatar, somehow understood my feelings. He looked as if he wanted to reach out to soothe me, but he didn't touch me. "I know how you feel. There's this thing with the Avatar that's called the Avatar State. I lose control of myself and my past lives take over…it's scary."

I nodded in assessment. But there was something else that was nagging in the back of my throat. Did I dare ask him? The all-mighty Avatar? _Wait, what am I thinking? The kid's __**12**__ for goodness sake!_ And besides, I wasn't sure if it would even work. My super-brain had just given me the idea to...

Finally, after a lot more arguments in my head, I took a deep breath and asked, "Aang…do you…believe in Spirits?"

He cocked his head to the side in confusion, as if that really wasn't what he had thought that I meant. "I've met them, so yeah. Before that, though, I was a little skeptical. Why?"

Taking a deep breath, I held my hand out to him. "I…have theory."

The boy just stared at my hand with the same confused look. "Like what? I don't really know all that much about Spirits, just that I'm a bridge between them and this world."

It made me flinch, to think of it that way. What if, by him being the bridge and touching my hand, I was sent to the Spirit world and couldn't get out? "Just…please. It'll sustain my curiosity." Because if I figured all of this out, I would know what had happened to me, I would know what was going on with me.

He looked to me hesitantly, almost like he couldn't trust me. "O-okay," he whispered, and I was surprised that he even considered it without figuring out more about me. Perhaps he felt some kind of connection, I don't know. He held out his hand and took mine into his. What happened next I never thought I'd ever figure out. It felt as if energy was pulling my body apart from the inside, stretching me and pulling my limbs away from my body. I could feel—actually _feel—_the heat of the light that came out of me, see it as it exited my fingertips, my lips, my eyes.

And then I collapsed on the floor.

When my eyes opened, I wasn't looking into the eyes of Aang. No, the little boy with the bald head and blue arrows was gone. He had left his body, and now all around me were different people. Behind them looked like clouds, but somehow I knew it to be an endless, black void.

One of the people was an old man. In his hair was the symbol of the Prince of the Fire Nation. Beside him was a woman dressed like the Warriors of Kyoshi. And even beside her was a man dressed in ceremonial garb from the Water Tribe. Last but not least, there was a woman in Air Nomad clothing, brown hair covering the back half of her head, because on the front half was a large, blue arrow tattoo.

Then, it kept going in that order all the way around me in a spiral of people, even though none but the first four moved or talked. The others were like statues…or projections.

The old man smiled at me, his bright yellow eyes crinkling as his deep, booming voice reverberated somewhere past the clouds. "Ahh, yes. Emiko. Daughter of Amaterasu. Daughter of Yuriko. Daughter of Chiharu. Daughter of many more before even that."

"Who are you?" I asked angrily, tears choking my words. I felt sick to my stomach and shaken up. My mind was still reeling from whatever that was that had happened with Aang. My hands were clenched shut, while my brain spewed information that I'd never earned. How did I know how to dismantle a Fire Nation tank all of a sudden? How did I know that each of my mothers had been the second daughter? "How do you know my mothers?"

"I am Roku, Avatar of Fire. I was a personal friend of Chiharu." He bowed his head low, then looked back up to me with sincere eyes.

The Kyoshi Warrior bowed her head, giving me a caring look from her bright green eyes. "And I am Avatar Kyoshi, Earth. You have met many of my decedents, one called Suki. I knew three of your spiritual mothers before Chiharu." She had long brown hair, the color of tree bark. Her face was long and sharp, painted completely white with the red and black markings of a Kyoshi Warrior.

Next, the man with the polar-wolf pelt gave me a sneer. "Avatar Kuruk, Water. I too knew of you." His eyes were a deep blue, his hair completely black, his face planed to look menacing.

"And lastly," the last woman said in a kind voice, the one wearing the Air Nomad clothes, "Avatar Yangchen, the Avatar of Air before Aang. Yes, even I knew of your mothers." Her eyes were grey, much like Aang's, and her face was round and motherly.

"When I didn't." What was going on here? Why did these people know who I was? I mean, I knew they were the Avatars, but…what happened to Aang? And where were we? At least there was _something_ I didn't understand.

And why the _hell_ did they know my mothers when I didn't?

"We are sorry we haven't been here to explain things," Yangchen told me, reaching out a hand to put on mine. Comforting—especially from a stranger—never really helped when I was thinking of all the pain I had been in. I pulled it away from her before she could touch me.

"Explain _what_?" I asked bitterly, crossing my arms across my chest, ignoring that I was doing just like _he_ did, hating that I couldn't trust these people. "There was nothing to say. I know what I went through."

"Getting through something as hard as your past is not easy," Kyoshi explained, smiling at me beautifully. "You think it's your fault—"

"—But it's not," Roku interrupted, still not smiling, but not frowning, like the Water Tribe Avatar. I tried to ignore his knowing stare, _all_ of their knowings stares, but I couldn't keep from thinking about my past, which made my throat close up and my eyes burn.

The Water Tribe man looked angry that he had to even be here, I noticed, which only even made me more upset, because I really hadn't been the one who was here in the first place. "You shouldn't dwell on the fact that parts of your family are dead. Most of them are in a better place now."

A small, caring smile adorned my lips, and I felt a slight sadness for him. I could tell from the way he sat that I was not the only person in the room who lost someone she loved. But…did he know something I didn't? It sure did seem like it, like…I'd lose someone else. Could it be…?

Then it was as if he read my mind. "He'll die soon enough, _Emiko_." It almost seemed like he was growling. "Though you'll wish it was your sister instead."

"_What_?" I shouted, pulling back and away from them. I only had three men in my family still alive: my father, my grandfather, and my brother. "What is that supposed to _mean_?"

"You've said too much, Kuruk," Kyoshi sighed, sending a glare at him. "You've been talking to Koh again, haven't you?"

"What of it?"

I clenched my fists, trying to keep the red from covering my vision. "What are you talking about, Avatar?"

"May Zhao rot in _hell_," Kuruk growled, jumping onto his feet. The ground seemed to tremble under his anger. "What he will do will almost kill you, and it will…Tui will die! How can you still even call him your own?"

Tui? Who is… _Thousands of years ago, Tui, the Moon Spirit, and her counterpart La, the Water Spirit, decided to manifest themselves in the physical world to better benefit mankind, taking up residence in an alcove of the Northern Water Tribe's capital city. Thus, the Spirit Oasis in the city became its most treasured landmark. Tui's physical form resembles a white koi fish, with a large black spot on its head. _

I was dizzy for a moment, at least until I realized my own anger. He was still my father, that was all I had to remember. I jumped up as well and looked him straight in the eye. "He may be an evil man," I growled quietly, the intense anger in my voice growing, "but that does not mean I do not love him." Could I punch a spirit? He was already dead, after all.

Kyoshi and Yangchen were already up, trying to separate us. Roku was still sitting on the ground, his hands in the sleeves of the kimono he was wearing as he sat cross-legged.

"Kuruk, _enough_," Kyoshi growled, holding onto his arm in anger. "Don't take your personal anger out on this girl."

Yangchen tried to whisper soothing things in my ear. "Hush, child. Kuruk is a dangerous Avatar."

"Why should I quiet?" I screamed, shrugging off the hands that held me back. "The thirteen years before I ran away I was quiet. Do you know how difficult it was for me to go against everyone and everything I knew and _loved_?"

"I do, young one," Yangchen mumbled silently. It looked like I had tore open a wound, making me falter and quiet for one moment. "In order to help my Temple, I had to kill the one person who kept us from our way of peace. He was a horrible tyrant." She looked so pained that for once I shut my trap and looked away, clasping my hands behind my back.

Kyoshi pursed her lips in complete and utter anger. "He probably spawned Chin the Conqueror."

"He did, actually," Yangchen whispered in hurt, her eyes threatening to tear over. She averted her eyes from mine, trying to dismiss the pain inside her. "He had a family all his own, Yemeni did. I felt…so horrid to destroy the life he had."

"At least the evil man didn't take the life of someone you loved," Kuruk growled, fighting against Kyoshi's iron strength.

I stomped over to him and slapped him across the side of the face. "Shut _up_. An evil man didn't take my mother. Nor did an evil woman. _I _was the one who killed her. And I loved her to _death_."

Kuruk looked at me as if I grew two heads. "You…you…"

"She slapped you," Roku said bluntly, speaking for the first time. The four of us standing up eyed him suspiciously. "And it was justified. Never in my life or_ death_ have I heard of an Avatar, dead or alive, speak to a Sun Spirit in that matter."

Kuruk looked away, ashamed.

"I'm not that important…" I mumbled, looking away as well. I plopped my butt to the ground, and the rest followed in a more dignified manner. _Sun Spirit. Whatever. Some Spirit I am, I can't even protect my friends, or the people around me. I don't deserve this title, whatever it is._

"What do you think would happen if you didn't exist?" Kuruk asked suddenly. We looked at him—Kyoshi and Yangchen with anger, Roku with patience, and me with confusion, maybe hurt—and he got what we were thinking. "I meant that in a good way!"

_Good way as in how?_ I asked myself. But I still knew what he meant. "Yeah, I get what you're saying. And…I don't really know."

Roku looked down. "Picture a world without light. Everything in the darkness. No colors to any flower, sea, sky, grass…never again to see the blush on the woman or man you love."

"Picture dying," Kuruk growled bitterly. "That would about sum it up."

"How do you know this?" I asked, tears choking my throat again. "And why didn't the sun die when my mother did?"

"We know this because the sun _did_ die long ago," Kyoshi stepped in. "Three Fire Avatars ago, the Sun Spirit fell in love with him. They fought by each other in the biggest battle of history, but in the end the Sun Spirit fell."

Yangchen looked down and away, remembering the sight apparently. "The Avatar of Fire gave his life for hers, so that she may see the light of day again. It wasn't until a moment after that she found that she was pregnant…with twins."

"Girl twins, to be exact," Roku corrected.

"But you didn't answer my second question," I mumbled, thinking about them not wanting to tell me exactly what had happened. They didn't want to hurt me, pain me any further. But if I was to be some kind of Sun Spirit, or whatever word kept popping into my mind. It was in some language that I'd only ever glimpsed, and that was what it roughly translated to.

"As long as a 'trainee' as you call it is birthed, it does not matter if the mother dies or not," Kuruk explained. Was that bitterness I heard? Sarcasm. Whatever it was, I wanted to punch the man in the face.

So that was it, the final straw. I got up and moved over to him, feeling slightly small with the fact that he was perhaps six foot six, but I still looked up at him and glared him down. "Stop talking about my family."

"I'm not—!"

"No more violence," Yangchen commanded, grabbing my wrist I was about to hit the Avatar with and pulling it down. "I think we've had _enough_."

Roku nodded. "Yes, I think you are right. As well, we have kept this young woman for long enough."

"Avatars, please tell me more. More about these powers I have," I begged, trying to see them through the mists that were surrounding me. "What about my future, _my_ daughter? What did you do with Avatar Aang, what role does Koh play in this, what is going _on_?"

"We may see the future," Yangchen stated.

Kuruk nodded. "But tell only the past."

"And one day," Kyoshi started.

"You will see why you are so important," Roku finished, a smile appearing on his face. "And Aang is fine. You will see him any second now."

"Wait…wait, no!" I cried, reaching out to stop them. But the clouds suddenly started spiraling, taking the projections and the spirits away from me. Then I was back in the real world. Aang was slumped over his knees, Zuko still at my side where I had left him. I reached out and put a hand on the Avatar's shoulder, trying to stop from shaking. "A…Aang?"

He moaned and then pulled his head up. "K-Katara…?"

My head shook, and I reached over to gently pick his head up and look in his eyes. "No, it's Emiko." When he didn't answer, I was a little scared. "Hey little guy, you gonna be okay?" I asked, putting my hand to his forehead. It was cool—a little clammy, but cool.

His eyes un-fogged and for the first time in those moments he actually looked at me. "Y-yeah. What happened? Oh, hey Emiko."

"I…don't know what happened. But…you answered my question." I smiled nervously, but he didn't show the same smile. I opened my mouth to say something more, but Zuko moaned and rolled over. "Oh Spirits, I'm sorry, Aang. Zuko can't find me here."

Aang understood and nodded. I got up and tried to leave, but he stood up to stop me. "One day you're gonna have to explain to me what happened there. I'm…still a little foggy."

"…Me too," I admitted grudgingly before running off into the woods in the general direction of the bay.

_**Later**_

I was dreading the moment that he would come in. It had been bad enough that Iroh had caught me as I was sneaking in, but I knew that it would be even worse to face Zuko when he got back. And it was sooner than I thought it would be, too.

I stared at the mini ship as it reeled back up into the main one. A very weary Zuko climbed onto the deck, towards Uncle and I sullenly. I was listening to Uncle practice on the Sungi Horn. It was a mournful song, one that only made me feel worse about myself as I hugged a pillow to my midsection, my knees up around it.

Uncle quit playing, and I buried my face in the pillow. "Where have you been, Prince Zuko? You missed Music Night! Lieutenant Jee sang a _stirring_ love song!"

Zuko took one look at me and sighed dejectedly. "I'm going to bed. No disturbances."

Iroh rubbed his head and started to play the horn again. I recognized the tune, closed my eyes, and started singing the lullaby quietly to myself as tears filled my eyes.

…I had betrayed him.

* * *

**Whoa! Emiko's all Spirit-y now! Talking to the Avatars and everything, what a rush! Well, anyways, she feels really bad about not being able to tell Zuko anything. Does that mean that she will? Perhaps.**

**Anyways, next chappie! Which, just so you know, is titled, "The Past Part III, June." I'm pretty sure I don't have to tell you what its about(;**

June looked around again for anything in particular, but saw nothing. Her face scrunched up in confusion. "Red, what's wrong?"

Emiko rolled her eyes and pulled out a chair, turning it backwards and straddling it at the nearest table, her face to the door. "Nothing."

The bounty hunter rolled her eyes and shook her head. _She's always been like this. It's no surprise._ June took a chair and did the same as Emiko who was now crossing her arms over the "back" of the chair and leaning her head on them.

"Bartender!" June cried, pounding on the table with a fist. "One fire whiskey and a…" She let the sentence drop and looked to Emiko. She raised an eyebrow, and Emiko didn't hesitate.

"Bloody Mary." Her face fogged over in her _I-don't-really-want-it-but-I'll-take-it-and-live_ look.

"You sure?" June asked, eyeing the girl with a look of indecision. _Maybe I shouldn't have brought her here…she isn't the same Emiko I remember._

"Yeah, I'm sure, I'm just tired is all." But Emm was lying. She never had a good poker face, not around June, anyways. Put her at a Pai Sho table and she could hustel the clothes off your back. Usually it was her eyes that gave her away. They'd dart one way, then another. But sometimes she'd try and bite her lip, then think better of it. This was why June was her friend, because she could talk to her. Because she knew her tells. Because…they were a lot alike.

And something was definately wrong with her friend.


	14. The Past: Part III

**The last chapter didn't really explain everything, but pretty soon Emiko figures it all out. Not in this chapter, though, soon! But I'm pretty sure that you can figure out what its about(;**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender. I would SO own one of those ant-eater-sniffler things.**

* * *

**The Past Part III**

**June**

Zuko took a deep breath, bitterly thinking about how he was supposed to be commanding his ship instead of sitting at some little frilly table, drinking some kind of fancy exported tea, and talking like a little school girl to his uncle. Not to mention that Emiko was sitting right next to him.

Iroh drank the tea with gusto, making Emiko smile. "I'm glad that you like it, Uncle," she said softly, in the way that she always did, with the bashful look down and the blush on her cheeks. She'd lost weight, in her face and in the waist, and then her hair was longer, too. It was as if she weren't eating, but she could drink her weight in tea, that was for sure. The Prince had to look away and take a deep breath. He hated thinking about her now, because thinking about her led him to think about much, much more, and he didn't think he could stand it, not with what had happened. And any time she looked into his eyes, he saw guilt and hurt and a little bit of anger for some reason.

_Why was she there?_ he kept asking himself, the questions overflowing in his head, confusing him. _I don't understand…why would she turn herself into Zhao? And…was she the Red Spirit? If so, did she know who I was?_

"Ahhh…" Uncle sighed in obvious content. He leaned back in his chair and took in a deep breath of the apparently delicious aroma. "See, Prince Zuko? A moment of quiet is good for your mental well-being!"

Zuko snorted once, softly, in an attempt to laugh at how completely wrong his uncle was. And the fact that he was still occupied on trying to figure out a woman's brain. _No, not a woman's brain, you're trying to figure out __**Emiko's**__ brain. It's a lot more complicated._ He snorted once more in his own amusement and raised his cup to drink.

Suddenly a shock that rocked the whole boat caused him to splash the tea all over his face. _What in the Spirit World?_ He pushed out of his chair, pushing Emiko to the side as she tried to rush past him, and stormed out the door. _If my ship is damaged..._ He lengthened his stride and quickly made his way to the stairs that led up to the deck.

Once he busted through the doors, he saw the problem.

A young lady who had long, sleek black hair with skin as pale as Emiko's was sitting upon a giant monster with a long snout and brown, shaggy fur. The woman looked towards him with a sneer, her face set in determination, her black eyes searching the boat for something that Zuko couldn't even think was there.

Soon Iroh and Emiko were on deck behind him, and the latter pushed him back in irritation. He wanted to push her away once more, but right at that moment he was wondering why this woman and beast were scrambling his men about like lost kitten-chicks.

"Get back!" she cried with the crack of a black whip. "We're after a stowaway." Her voice commanded to be heard, to be obeyed. But her attire said, _stay away_. It had to be black leather. The only color on her was a circular red tattoo on her shoulder. Even her eyes were a dull, lifeless grey.

But what really got to him, besides her scary clothing, was what she said. "There are no stowaways on my ship!" he growled bitterly at her. He knew everything that went on in this ship, and there was no way that—

"No way," Emiko said, an amazed smile on her face as she gazed up to the woman with squinted eyes, as if she were trying to remember something from a long time ago. In a way, she looked demonic, as if old spirits had risin up within her and made her something from the past.

Before Zuko could protest or even think, the monster proceeded to rip out a chunk of deck plating and hurl it into the water. It stuck its head into the gaping hole, and then crawled farther in to find what it was looking for. A whimper came from below deck after a crash, and Zuko wanted to pull his hair out by the roots in anticipation and anger and…_she's destroying my ship!_

Suddenly, a scrawny, dark skinned man crawled out onto the foredeck. The giant beast quickly whipped the back of his neck with a tongue that had something that looked like spines on the tip. He fell instantly onto the deck, looking dead, but Zuko could tell otherwise.

Zuko was stunned. "He's paralyzed!" He looked back to Uncle, to see if the old man would give some good advise, but instead he saw Emiko smiling slyly, saying, "Yes, he is," as she walked up to stand directly beside him. She nudged him with the toe of her shoe, smiling in a way that a small child would.

The woman on the beast had a look of surprise. "Well, speak of The Face Stealer, and The Face Stealer you shall receive." An equally sly smile found the woman's dark red lips. "Emiko, is that you?"

Emiko grinned as if she were a maniac. The Prince looked on, amazed that she could know someone like this. But then again, she _did_ travel with pirates for a year…

The woman jumped off the beast and Emiko ran over and hugged her. "It's so good to see you again, June!" Emiko cried, looking to tears that wouldn't shed. She pulled back with an accusing glance "Apparently you've been talking about me."

The woman—whom Zuko decided was named "June"—smiled devilishly.

Emiko's smile faltered, though. "And I see that you've kept your business thriving without me."

June seemed to be worried about this, then decided to make a light of the situation. "It's not as fun without you there…but it's still fun!"

Emiko laughed, but it was forced. June didn't seem to notice.

"Enough with the girl talk!" Zuko shouted, storming forwards. He grabbed Emiko's arm and pulled her behind him and away from the dangerous-looking woman, though he had no idea why he felt so protective, and pointed to the man laying paralyzed on the deck. "What about him? You are _not_ leaving him here."

June rolled her eyes, then glared at Zuko for breaking up the girls' reunion. "The paralysis is only temporary. The toxins will wear off in about an hour. But by then, he'll be in jail, and I'll have my money."

That wasn't enough information for the Prince. "How did you find him on my ship?"

Sighing, June got back in the saddle. Emiko brushed past him, and he made a desperate grab to keep her behind the protection of his body. _What are you doing? She can protect herself. You saw that the other day._ He cursed himself for arguing with himself, and ended up letting Emiko walk straight past him.

She petted the giant animal and it nuzzled her head affectionately. "It's a Shirshu. This little beauty can smell a rat a continent away."

June all of a sudden grabbed Emiko's arm and pulled her up onto the beast. "Come with me, Red. I've got some of your things," she said with a smile as Emiko situated herself behind the dangerous woman, seemingly at home. Actually, she was looked comfortable, sitting there, not at all like she should have looked.

Before he could stop himself, he screamed, "You can't take her!" as if he would never see her again. He couldn't figure out why he had such a bad feeling—maybe it was the way the woman was dressed—but he was getting bad vibes from her _and_ the beast. And not just because they tore a hole in his ship.

June looked down and smiled humorlessly. "Don't worry…I'll return your girlfriend to you sooner or later."

Emiko blush angrily and looked away, mumbling, "He is _not_ my boyfriend."

"Sure, Red, sure," June said mockingly, shaking her head and looking as if she knew better. She patted the teenager's leg. "But you are _way_ out of his league."

Zuko wanted to punch something. First, this woman came and destroyed his ship. Then she decided that she was going to up and take Emiko without his permission. Now she was badmouthing him in front of his crew!

"You aren't leaving," Zuko told Emiko bluntly with fury coursing through his veins.

She narrowed her eyes only slightly, clenching her fists. She probably felt just as he did. "Zuko, stay out of this. I'll be back later. _I can take care of myself_." Was it just him, or was there a hint of tears in her eyes? But soon she put a mask of neutral on her face and looked away. "Let's go, June, if we're gonna do this."

Smiling, June cracked her whip. This made her Shirshu jump off the ship at full speed. It ran down the dock and was out of sight in a split second.

"I'm impressed," Iroh admitted, stroking his chin as he admired both women. "_Very_ impressed."

_**June**_

June looked upon the small building and smiled as she glanced at one of her best friends beside her. The dark-headed girl was exactly the same as she always had been, but now she was older, just like the bounty hunter was. She noticed that, even though Emiko hadn't gotten any taller, she had filled out her scrawny body. She wasn't skin and bones anymore. Now at least she had some muscle and curves. Not many, obviously, but she was more filled out.

"Just like old times, eh, Red?" June asked with a friendly smile, elbowing the girl in the side. "Just like old times…"

Well, she had never taken the girl to a bar when she was fourteen, more like the last few times before she had been…taken away. That's where they were now. It was a squat, three story building that looked packed even from the outside.

They hopped off the Shirshu, and Emiko patted its nose. It nudged her in the side like it always did, but today she didn't have any sugar cubes to give it. "Sorry, sweet. I don't have any today."

It looked like it was pouting. It then went over to the hitching post and curled up beside the door. _Oh, she always sulks when Emm doesn't have any treats. _Patrons started sauntering over to the creature and admired it, getting a look of pride from June. Not that the comments of scrawny, drunken men had any hold on her emotions, but the Shirshu was her joy, her one reason for living.

But then it opened its big, brown eyes and sulked at Emiko, making June laugh straight out.

"Aw, I _hate_ it when it does that," the girl mumbled bitterly.

June pursed her lips to keep from laughing even more. _She turns a giant, dangerous monster into a tame little animal_. "It'll get over it, Red. Always does." She put out her arm and held open one of the swinging doors, motioning the girl through. "After you." Emiko smiled and sauntered into the building. Instantly her face turned to disgust. June looked up to wonder why, and saw that it was the usual bar that she used to go to with the girl.

Tables scattered the front of the room, balconies over the next two stories for people to watch anything. The back of the room was the bar, along with some kind of platform to announce things.

June looked around again for anything in particular, but saw nothing. Her face scrunched up in confusion. "Red, what's wrong?"

Emiko rolled her eyes and pulled out a chair, turning it backwards and straddling it at the nearest table, her face to the door. "Nothing."

The bounty hunter rolled her eyes and shook her head. _She's always been like this. It's no surprise._ June took a chair and did the same as Emiko who was now crossing her arms over the "back" of the chair and leaning her head on them.

"Bartender!" June cried, pounding on the table with a fist. "One whiskey and a…" She let the sentence drop and looked to Emiko. She raised an eyebrow, and Emiko didn't hesitate.

"Bloody Mary." Her face fogged over in her _I-don't-really-want-it-but-I'll-take-it-and-live_ look.

"You sure?" June asked, eyeing the girl with a look of indecision. _Maybe I shouldn't have brought her here…she isn't the same Emiko I remember._

"Yeah, I'm sure, I'm just tired is all." But Emm was lying. She never had a good poker face, not around June, anyways. Put her at a Pai Sho table and she could hustel the clothes off your back. Usually it was her eyes that gave her away. They'd dart one way, then another. But sometimes she'd try and bite her lip, then think better of it. This was why June was her friend, because she could talk to her. Because she knew her tells. Because…they were a lot alike.

"Emiko, talk to me," June begged as the drinks were brought to them. "Whats wrong."

She acted as if she hadn't heard. The girl picked up her drink and chugged half of it, her face turning to disgust. "_Ugh_." You could almost see it burn all the way down.

"Emiko, _talk to me_."

Still, no answer. Emm fingered her drink, turning it in the small light of the room. She scrutinized it as if she could find small chips in the surface of the glass cup. So June slammed her fist on the table in her annoyance. Emiko just looked up as if she had heard her for the first time. "Yes?"

"Why in the world are you acting like this, Red?" she asked as she walked around the table to place a hand on the girl's shoulder. But she pulled away. "I've never seen you this way. Is it…that guy…?"

Emiko's face hardened. "_No_."

But June knew better. She sat down next to the girl and wrapped an arm around her shoulders to lean in conspiratorially. "Emiko, in all of the times we've spent together, I've never seen you act like this. I've seen you maim and kill. I've seen you PMSing, (and believe me, it isn't a pretty sight,) I've seen you mourn…but I've never seen you in love. And I think this is what that is."

Emiko furiously shrugged off her arm, then stood up and made her way towards the door, hands shoved in her pocket.

"RED." June had stood up as well. She had shouted out the girl's name. "Get your little ass over here this minute."

The girl froze in her place, her head drooping in defeat. As she walked back, every eye in the tavern was on her. She stuck her nose into the air and stiffly walked back over. "I hope you have something good to say," she growled from between her teeth. "Because that was uncalled for."

June let out a small puff of air. "At least now you're talking to me. Now _sit_,"—she grabbed the girl's arm and pulled her down onto the hard wooden bench—"and tell me why the hell you're being like this." She paused for a minute and looked into her eyes. "…Is it that man…?"

When Emiko didn't say anything, June knew she was right.

"How…far have you two gotten?" she asked slowly, trying not to push too hard but still wanting to know.

Emiko's hand tightened around her cup. "Not far at all, believe me."

"What's wrong, then, exactly?" she asked as she leaned back in her chair.

Suddenly the cup shattered, and the Bloody Mary dribbled down Emiko's hand. "Because he's an ignorant bastard!" she cried, clenching her eyes shut.

"_Damn_, Emiko, calm down!" June cried, taking the girl's hand. There were major gashes in the palm of her hand, bleeding along with the alcoholic beverage. She wondered why Emiko wasn't screaming from the alcohol in the cuts, they were so deep.

And this was why she was called "Red." Because at any moment her temper could flare and attack. Which is pretty much what the girl started doing, as she picked up the edge of the table, easily flipping it over in her rage. "I don't _want_ to calm down!" she cried as soon as the table landed on its side.

"Hey, who's causing the ruckus over here?" a deep, gruff voice called angrily. Emiko and June turned to see a big burly man saunter over to them, an apron around his large beer belly, a towel over his broad shoulders.

"Me," Emm said as she placed her foot on the bench next to her and leaned down onto her knee. "You gotta problem with it, Tubby?"

The man narrowed his eyes. "You'd better watch what you're calling me, little lady. You don't know who you're dealing with."

"No!" she shouted in fury, her eyes almost seeming to blaze a bright red. Another reason she was called Red. "_You_ don't know who _you're _dealing with!"

June couldn't figure out what the damned girl was trying to do. She was purposely making this man angry and for what? Was the girl just that crazy? Or…

Ah.

June knew why. The girl wanted a fight. She'd seen this before. It was right after June had found her and taken her in, Red had purposely started a bar fight. She needed to release some raw energy, some force. She sighed in disgust; was this partially her fault? "Red, sit your ass down."

"No," she said as she glared at the man. "I want to see what this man will do to me if I…" She picked up June's drink and flung it in his face, a look of murder on her face. "Do _that_."

The man grabbed for Emiko, but the girl quickly socked him one in the gut. He was now bent over, and Emiko quickly gave him an uppercut. He flew back, but not before another man ran up to her shouting, "HEY!" But her knee was soon coming around, and her whole leg caught the man in his face. He flew back into the bar and shattered every single bottle behind it.

Emiko was breathing heavily as more men surrounded her. Her eyes were wild with excitement, red and tinged with a little yellow. "Oh? You all want some of this? I can take you all blindfolded. Yeah you heard me, skinny! Don't look at me like that, Patches, I can take out your other eye too if I have to."

One of the men straightened and looked at her, then everyone else like they were crazy. "Wait, why are we doing this? She's a _girl_ for Koh's sake."

Now the girl's angry red glare was on his face. "Well this girl's about to kick your ass, Pasty," she taunted, making fun of his pale, almost translucent skin. She lunged at him, but the man waved his hand and two larger, more intimidating men stepped in front of him and grabbed her by both arms. "Hey, lemme go, assholes! Don't get involved with other people's fights, you shitty bastards!"

"Calm down, Emiko," June whispered as the girl struggled in the bodyguards' arms. But she didn't, and that made someone push forwards through the crowd.

And…it was that guy.

Emiko's boyfriend. "Out of my way! Step aside, _filth_!"

The older—much, much older—man that had been eyeing her with a disgusting interest appeared next to the people that the teenager had just insulted. "He means no offense! I'm sure you bathe regularly!"

The teen looked at the two men, who were holding Emiko, with something along the lines of utter fury peering out from his eyes. "Drop her this instant!"

Neither of them paid any attention to him.

Emiko looked up to the old man and his young relative, her eyes wide with anger and maybe…fright? "What are you _doing_ here?" she shouted, struggling in the men's arms. The old man look dismayed, most likely from the rage in Emiko's eyes, and the pony-tail looked completely beffuddled as Emiko finally managed to pull her arm out of one of their grasps and swung it around into the opposite man's nose.

A loud crunch accompanied the fist, and Emiko smiled as if Koh himself were inside her. Blood splattered against her face.

The man fell backwards, making the other one glance his way—off guard, for only a moment. But a moment was all that Emiko needed, and she swung her legs up until her knees were on the man's shoulders. Then she pulled the rest of herself up and, using her thighs, twisted the man's head until he himself lost his own balance. She could've killed him, and thank the Spirits that she didn't.

Swiftly, and with the grace of a dragwan, she jumped off of his shoulders and onto the ground, landing on all fours as if she were some kind of rabid cat, with that look on her face.

Gritting his teeth and setting his jaw, the angry teenager turned his sights onto June. "I need to talk to you." Now his eyes were sent back to Emiko, and he grabbed her arm roughly, pulling her against him. "And _you_, I will deal with _later_!"

The man that Emiko had called 'Pasty' walked up and looked at the brunette with obvious distaste, but really a glare was sent towards the teen. "You, _sir_, need to take better care of you wife and keep her at home where she is _supposed to be_." With that, he turned around with his nose in the air and motioned for his guards to follow him and left.

"_Sexist bastard_!" Emiko screamed out after him, her eyes still tinted red, her chest still heaving up and down. The old man looked appalled. But, to June's surprise, she didn't say anything about the man calling her the teen's wife. Then she turned to the guy who was holding her and gave him daggers. "Damn you, Zuko, you'd better drop my arm _right now_."

June raised an eyebrow the second Emiko said his name. _Well, this is a strange turn of events._ Who knew that Miss Emm, Red, the supernatural wonder, was hooking up with the banished prince of the Fire Nation? "Well…hello, Hothead number two. And I'll call you…" She looked at the graying man and made up her mind. "Uncle Lazy."

Emiko pulled her arm away angrily, about to cuss the teen out, but the big, grizzly man came up once more with intent for murder on his face. "You'd better get out of my bar. Before I have to put you out myself."

Zuko didn't pay attention to the man at all, and he didn't understand what had happened because he hadn't been there. "Your beast trashed my ship. You are going to pay me back for the damages." And he glared at Emiko one more time. "Quit trying to pull away, will you? You're in a _Koh_ of a lot of trouble."

"I'm afraid I'm a little short on money…" June turned to the bartender with a seductive smile, completely ignoring the Prince after that. "Oh, come on now, hon. Don't be like that. I was just about to tell the whole room that there were free drinks on me!"

"Money isn't what I had in _mind_." Now the Prince had the audacity to grab her arm as well, and to drag her out of the bar. She stumbled over the threshold and wanted to kick his kneecaps in for embarrassing her like that in front of all of those men.

"Emiko's right, you are a complete ass!" June cried, snatching her arm away. Should she do what she wanted and kick his srawny little rich-boy ass? No. Emiko was in enough stress as it was.

"I need you to find someone," Zuko growled, giving Emiko a look that should've killed. He reached over to the girl and cupped her face in his hand, making her eyes go wide in fury and surprise. But all he did was wipe the blood from her cheek. When she saw that, her face paled. She had always been one to faint at the sight of blood.

He then held out something in his hands—now completely ignoring Emiko, a slightly pained look in his eyes—and the instant he did June noticed that it was a betrothal necklace. Blue, like for the Water Tribe, but a betrothal necklace.

She wanted to blush, but didn't show the weakness. _Damn. So he's a married man? Emiko, what have you gotten yourself into…? _"Wife run away? Tough luck, bub."

He completely ignored the question. "It's not the girl I'm after, it's the bald monk she's traveling with."

_Bald monk? What the hell?_ "Whatever you say." _But I'm not going to pay you a dime, Hothead._

"Zuko, _let me go_." When he didn't listen, Emiko flung her arm away from him and took a step back. "I don't need your damn help. As you have seen, I can_ take care of __**myself**__._"

Zuko continued his conversation as if Emiko had never interrupted, but there was a certain look of despair in his bright yellow eyes. "If you find them, I'll consider the damage to my ship paid for."

"Forget it!" Emiko spat, shoving away from him again when he tried to grab her once more. "I'm sick and tired of going after your _Avatar_. Besides, June doesn't work for free." The girl started to stalk away, and June shrugged and started to follow her towards the Shirshu.

"Plus we'll pay your weight in gold!" the graying man added quickly, hurrying to try and follow them.

This made June stop, a small smile on her face. She didn't weigh much, but money talked.

"June…" Emiko warned, seeing the look on her friend's face. "Don't do it…"

June smiled, turned around, and poked the man right in his flabby stomach. "Make it _your_ weight in gold and we got a deal."

He laughed, and for a second June saw a softness in Emiko that she'd never seen come to life. "You got it!"

She motioned for Zuko and Uncle to get on the Shirshu while she tossed Emiko the necklace. She had her lips pursed, red-hot anger in her eyes—literally. She held it in front of the Shirhu's nose, and the beast sniffed at it. Messy as ever, it slobbered and showed its mouth full of teeth as June and Emiko jumped on the saddle in front of Zuko and Iroh. They took off.

**_Emiko_**

It wasn't a very comfortable ride, if I did say so myself. I was positioned on Zuko's lap, and I could feel the hard muscles underneath the sleeves on his arms. It reminded me of when he had hugged me to him after the storm, or at the dance, or even… when I thought I had been married to him.

The thought made me shift in my seat—which was Zuko's lap. He instantly put both hands on my hips and gave me an animal-like look that meant business. His eyes were that same dark topaz that I had seen too many times, and his hands gently squeezed. His muscles against my soft curves were too much for me, and I felt a hot blush appearing on my cheeks. His eyes landed there and I wanted to look away, but I couldn't. And I sure as hell couldn't do what I wanted while June was right there, _and_ Uncle Iroh.

Thankfully we came to the outskirts of some decrepit old town. At the end, on the other side of town, was a hill. And there was an old woman crouching there, a fluffy white cat at her ankles. It hissed and tensed when the Shirshu appeared, making the woman rise to look at us.

And amazingly, she was unafraid. She eyed me with suspicion, though, making me uncomfortable. "Out for a bit of fresh air, are we?"

Zuko looked down on her. If he had his way, I was sure that he would look down on everyone he could. For once in my life I was angry that I was so short. "We're looking for someone."

The woman looked at her cat and started talking to it. "I hope it's not Miyuki. Miyuki…did you get in trouble with the Fire Nation again?"

The cat meowed and backed away. _Smart cat. And what kind of trouble would that be?_ "I doubt they're here, June," I mumbled, looking away from Zuko's persistent glare. "Lets keep going." June cracked her whip and sent the Shirshu flying. Zuko and Uncle were confused, wondering why we left so soon. So I said, "The Avatar's been through here. We're going to keep moving."

The Prince nodded seriously, trying to look away, I know, but couldn't like me. Iroh smiled to me lovingly, his eyes that of a caring father. "Well said, Sunshine. Thank you for explaining."

_**Makapu Village**_

People ran into their houses screaming and fleeing the Shirshu and its riders. June made a startling figure out there, waving her whip and flailing it at anyone who came near.

A gentle and wise-looking old woman was standing where we stopped, looking serene, if not entirely pleased. _Good Spirits, she's gotten old,_ I thought as I looked down on her. She was Aunt Wu, and she could barely read my palm without shuddering. I was going to greet her, but Zuko interrupted me. "Why are we stopping?"

June rolled her eyes at the obvious answer. "Because the girl must have spent a lot of time here." She looked around, but apparently she couldn't find anything important.

Grabbing the necklace from me, the Prince pushed me off of him, jumped off the Shirshu, and showed the necklace to it again. Its tongue almost zapped him. "Hey! Watch it!"

"Oh, look," June teased, that seductive smile on her face. Just thinking of her seducing Zuko made the ugly green monster rear its head, and a red blush cover my cheeks. Neither of us had a claim "He likes you!"

Zuko glared at her, and I sighed in relief. Then I turned my sights on Aunt Wu, the fortune teller. "Hello, Aunt Wu, long time no see."

She smiled up to me. "Well, child, _I_ see that you have grown into a beautiful young woman." Her eyes darted to Uncle, and now the seductive smile was on her lips. "Care to hear your fortune, handsome?" she flirted, making me moan in disbelief and discust. It only worsened when he smiled and flirted back, with, "At my age, there is really only one big surprise left, and I'd just as soon leave it a mystery."

Scowling, Zuko grabbed my hand and pulled me off harshly so that he could get his seat back. Then, when he was situated, he pulled a still-stunned me back into his lap, wrapping his arms around my waist protectively.

A blush crept up my cheeks, and Aunt Wu was still smiling as June whipped the animal that took off once again.

_**The Abbey**_

A group of sisters from the abbey were making perfume; I could smell it from at least a mile away. The approach of the Shirshu could be heard, I was sure. The gate then busted open, revealing the Shirshu and its riders. The Shirshu could smell Katara everywhere, I knew, because of its frenzied attempts to find her.

"We're getting close," June said as she whipped the Shirshu again.

Zuko wrapped his arms tighter around me as the beast bounded off, and I bit my lip to keep from pulling him closer. He was mad at me, I knew. But he wouldn't have that look in his eyes if he wasn't going to show some kind of goodwill towards me.

…Or so I hoped.

_**In the Forest...**_

When I heard a _"Stop,"_, I knew that we were close. It sounded like the Water Tribe boy, alright. But was I ready for another duel with the Avatar, or for Zuko's angst when he was defeated once more? Maybe I should have been more optimistic, but that was a bad trait of mine. Anyways, we were sneaking up behind them. So, when we bounded through the brush, right behind them, they broke out in a dead run. They were still no match for the weighed-down Shirshu, though, and they were quickly cornered.

June smirked, not remembering the pain she had seen in my eyes when she had talked about Katara and Zuko…_together_. "So this is your girlfriend…Emiko is _way_ out of your league…and this girl is right under her…no wonder she left. She's way too pretty for you."

Zuko almost savagely shoved me off of him, and I fell to the ground, but not before I gave the damned Prince some pretty spicy parting words. "Where is he? Where's the Avatar?" I still wasn't in the mood, I really wasn't. The fight earlier had left me ashamed, but I was still raring to go.

Sokka, the Water Tribe boy, stood defiantly in Zuko's path. "We split up! He's long gone."

"How stupid do you think I am?" Zuko asked, and I thought, _Pretty damn stupid, if you believe him._

Sokka's mouth turned up in a sarcastic smile. "Pretty stupid," he said, mocking my thoughts as he grabbed his sister's arm. "_Run_!"

They ran, but I was controlling the whip. It took me a second to realize that I was supposed to stop them, so I commanded the Shirshu to paralyze them both. They fell to the floor, shreiking about not being able to move. Zuko looked confused, and he appeared by my side. "What are we supposed to do now?"

June looked at me to tell him what was up. I sighed. "It's seeking a different scent. Probably something that the Avatar held."

The beast moved forward and sniffed the paralyzed pair. A map scroll fell out of Sokka's backpack and rolled to the ground. The Shirshu decided to take it, and it pointed its nose back through the woods.

We quickly remounted, taking our captives with us. In a few moments, the animal crashed back through the Abbey's hastily repaired gate and sent the sisters running and screaming in all directions. The beast walked around, sniffing.

"What's it doing?" Zuko asked, his hand unconsciously squeezing my hip. I lost all train of thought at that moment, but he didn't seem to notice. "It's just going around in a circle!"

It was true. But his question was soon answered when suddenly Aang entered into sight on his glider. He flew up to the monster who jumped and snapped at him. It missed and ended up tossing off its riders and falling on its back. I groaned as Zuko landed on top of me, my head hitting the ground

"Aang!" Katara cried as I moved to get up. Zuko ran after the Avatar, while I grabbed the two Water Tribe kids. I gave a _humph_ of surprise as I drug both her and her brother away to a safe spot away from the battle that would rage. "Looks like Shirshu venom doesn't paralyze the mouth. Oh well. Shush up and let the boys play, please."

She gave me a bewildered look, as if I had hit her directly across the face. "Who are you?"

_Ah. So Aang didn't tell them about our little escapade into the fortress_. "My name is Emiko. I'm not here for you, your brother, or the Avatar. I'm just here to keep Iroh out of trouble." I nodded my head towards the old man who was looking at the fight with disappointment.

"Why are you traveling with them? He's a grown man!" she exclaimed, and I glared down into her bright blue, Waterbending eyes.

The look I gave her should've quit her questions, but still her eyes were curious. And Sokka, the boy, was just completely confused. I sighed and mumbled, "Sometimes, you…owe people things. And with Zuko…I owe him too much to just leave, alright?"

Katara quieted, and I looked to the whip in my hand. June would need it. I tossed her the weapon when I saw her start to get up, and she whipped the ground. That made the Shirshu get up and roar. June jumped onto it's back and they charged after Aang.

I tried to pretty much ignore the fight, instead sitting next to the two kids who were most likely my age, and I even talked to them for a while because it seemed that we had been to many of the same places. They'd seen Kyoshi Warriors, they'd seen the Pirates, but this was the first time they'd ever met June. "Ever met a Freedom Fighter?" I asked, doubting that they had.

"Yesy," Katara growled, and her eyes hardened dangerously. "We've met them all."

"Did you meet a girl named Pebble?" I asked softly, wondering if the fight might actually take some pain away, but I didn't dare look away from Katara. "Tall, pale, black hair and the brightest green eyes you've ever seen."

She rummaged through her mind, trying to think. She could move her arms now, "I don't know, I think...did she have a burn on her arm?"

Oh. _Oh!_ That was the last straw! I stood up and made my way over to Uncle, hiding my tears. Behind me, Zuko and Aang continued their dance, and some woman helped out the Water Tribes. But I just moved to Uncle and took his hand, trying to keep from crying. _So she is hurt. I should have believed it when Zhao told me...oh, Pebble..._

"That thing sees with its nose…let's give him something to look at!" Sokka was saying, and I instantly snapped on alert. _I shouldn't help, I'll only just be in the way... But Zuko needs all the help he can get!_

The Superior looked surprised. "The perfume?"

I was horrified when Sokka nodded. He then went over to where he and the sisters moved huge white pots of perfume into the courtyard. I moved to stop them, but Uncle held out his hand and shook his head at me. "Why, Uncle?" I whispered to him, feeling my face scrunch up in confusion.

He watched the fight without emotion. "Zuko needs to fight the Avatar one-on-one. He doesn't need help, because in the end it's always hurt him. If we want him happy, the odds need to be even."

I took a step back and lowered my eyes, obeying Uncle even though I really didn't want to for once.

Sokka and the sisters knocked over the pots. Katara Waterbended the perfume into a huge sheet and moved it over the Shirshu, dropping it. It shook off the liquid, but became confused by all of the different scents. It became so confused that it hit Zuko, June and me. I wanted to cry out for the poor creature, I wanted to hold it close, but I was kind of paralyzed.

_**Zuko**_

Uncle had caught June and she lay there draped across his chest with his arm around her. Instead of Uncle catching Emiko, Zuko had. And…it was quite uncomfortable. She was literally lying on top of him with her head on his chest. His arms were across her back from where he had _actually_ tried to catch her.

"Uncle?" Zuko asked, confused as her soft curves attacked at his senses and his body wished that it wasn't frozen. "I didn't see you get hit with the tongue."

Iroh put his finger up to his lips. "Shh!"

June opened her eyes and looked at Emiko, saying that she hated the position she was in. Zuko wished that he could see Emiko's face, to see if she liked the way they were positioned.

He certainly hadn't objected when she had to sit on his lap, but it was pure torture for his senses. Her body was just too tempting, and when she had shifted on his lap to get more comfortable, he felt the animal in him ready to pounce.

That was the problem now, too. Only he was paralyzed.

…And maybe that was a good thing.

* * *

**Buahaha! I'm so evil(; Anyways, not my best chapter (nor my favorite, as long as writing quality goes,) but you get to see the animal in Emiko come out and attack! She'd been raring for that fight for a lo-o-o-o-ong time! And then with all of that sexual tension... ;D **

**So anyways, here's a look at the next chapter, "The Past Part IV: Knowing," which answers a few questions you may or may not have had about Emiko's past. Or maybe not. You'll just have to read!:**

I'd woken up from another horrible nightmare the night before, involving the last fight that my brother, Ryuu, and I had had before I'd run away. But instead of it ending in my storming off, like I had done when I was twelve, it'd ended in my killing him. And that in and of itself was scary enough to keep me standing there for a second, fear-stricken.

Not only that, though, but I'd also woken with the knowledge of the anatomy of almost every bone in the human body. Something called a Sesamoid bone was being imputed right now, and the pictures of tissue wasn't fun to look at, and I knew that whatever the patella was was one of them. Why did I need to know_ that_? The same, random things kept getting imputed into my brain, almost as if a book was being written inside my head. Yesterday, as I'd been working with cheese, I'd suddenly known the two-thousand-and-three uses of cheeses in foods. What in Koh's name did I need to know _that_ for as a Spirit?


	15. The Past: Part IV

**YOU FINALLY LEARN THINGS IN THIS CHAPTER! :D**

***ahem***

**Just so you know, the rating will possibly be going up to M. I just want to be safe for the last few chapters. Its nothing horrible, but there are sexual situations. Just in case, y'know?**

**So, I just wanted to tell you guys that there are perhaps twenty-one or twenty-two chapters in Part I of Daughter of the Sun, plus or minus an epilogue. I'm not sure if I want to make a new story for Part II and III or keep it all in here. (Part II is Season Two, Part III is Season Three if you kinda get it.) Anyways, I'll be thinking. **

**In this Chapter, Zuko decides to ask some questions using a questionable tactic...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender. And I don't have anything witty to put here, so read on!**

* * *

**The Past Part IV**

**The Knowing**

I stood in the kitchen, forcefully putting together my meal. The cook—a grisly man in his 40s with at beer belly and a graying beard and hair—was looking at me with concern, but I put on a fake smile and kept mixing together a special sauce I always put over my meat. Over the past few days, Cook became my best friend. We both cooked and listened to each other's problems.

I couldn't tell him one problem, though… This problem was the second worst day of my life. _This problem_ made me go out on my own when I just turned 12. THIS PROBLEM…

I sighed.

This problem was _my _problem that no one else needed to get involved in.

I'd woken up from another horrible nightmare the night before, involving the last fight that my brother, Ryuu, and I had had before I'd run away. But instead of it ending in my storming off, like I had done when I was twelve, it'd ended in my killing him. And that in and of itself was scary enough to keep me standing there for a second, fear-stricken.

Not only that, though, but I'd also woken with the knowledge of the anatomy of almost every bone in the human body. Something called a Sesamoid bone was being imputed right now, and the pictures of tissue wasn't fun to look at, and I knew that whatever the patella was was one of them. Why did I need to know_ that_? The same, random things kept getting imputed into my brain, almost as if a book was being written inside my head. Moments ago, as I'd been working with cheese, I'd suddenly known the two-thousand-and-three uses of cheeses in foods. What in Koh's name did I need to know _that_ for as a Spirit?

Sighing and shaking my head, I was just walking out the door with my sandwich when Lieutenant Jee walked past and snatched it from my hands. "Thank _you_," he said mockingly when he grabbed it.

"Give it back," I sighed, barely ready to deal with this. I placed my hand on my temple and massaged it. All of the information floating in my head made it feel like it would explode, and at the moment some kind of fighting term was trying to be written. Something else about throwing daggers, which I'd mostly learned a few days ago. Something about the jugular, too.

He and two other men next to him laughed. Strange thing, though, I didn't recognize either of them. "What are you going to do about it, Emiko?"

I breathed slowly in and out to calm myself. "I don't have time for this, Jee." The headache in my temple kept growing, and I really didn't want to have to take it out on this man. "Give…it…back."

"Take it from me."

I closed my eyes and clamped my index finger and thumb over the bridge of my nose. _Don't do anything rash. Calm, calm… Mother, stay with me on this one. Calm…_ Oh, but I couldn't, not with that damn information floating around in my head!

"See, men!" Jee said with a laugh, elbowing who looked to be new recruits we'd picked up to replace the ones we'd lost during the storm. "She's just a _little girl._ She couldn't take this from me if she tried. Your mother and father raise a coward, Emiko?"

Suddenly my eyesight went red, and I knew exactly why my head was telling me about throwing daggers and jugulars. I took the dagger out of my belt and let it spin in my hand to get a better grip. The men just kept laughing, apparently not noticing my fury.

No one talked about my mother. And you know what? Not always my father, either. Not even when I didn't know about it. Because sooner or later I found it out. And then that man was _dead_.

_And my mother didn't raise a coward_!

I raised the dagger and aimed it at Jee's throat, and…!

Uncle caught my hand in mid flight and kicked the dagger to the floor. I pulled away my hand in pain, clutching it to my chest, widening my eyes at Iroh, while he looked at me with confusion and maybe a little anger. "Emiko, what is wrong with you?" It wasn't a shout, but it was enough to bring a wall of tears to my eyes.

Jee looked toward the dagger on the floor and then looked at me with wide eyes. "She…she tried to kill me!"

I clamped my teeth shut and pulled my arm away from Uncle. Then I stooped over to pick up my attempted murder weapon. "Damn right, I did." The tears were gone. _And too bad I didn't get to finish!_

Iroh took the sandwich from Jee and gave him a stern look, but only before he turned to me with pain in his eyes. Jee just shrugged and walked off, but I put both hands to the sides of my head and ran away. I ran to my room, ashamed that I had lost my temper. Well, only partly ashamed. If Iroh hadn't been there, then I wouldn't have been ashamed. He was like my father, and to see that look in his eyes…

It killed me.

I flung open the curtain to my room, which was a little flimsy and ended up getting tangled on my hands, so I kind of burned it in my anxiety to get inside. And anyways, I was amazed to see Zuko waiting for me. He was sitting at my desk, looking over my diary. Well, okay, maybe he wasn't waiting for _me_, but what he was doing with my diary made me wonder exactly what he wanted.

My cheeks flushed red despite my massive headache. "What do you want, Zuko?" I asked with a groan, holding my head.

He looked at me like I was a ghost, but only before he got up and walked towards me like he hadn't just been reading over my most precious secrets. "What are you doing in here?" Translation: _Oh, I meant to be gone before you got back._

I closed my eyes and breathed again. "Zuko, this is my room. Now please, go. I need to…to _think_." Kind of hard to do when your head was about to explode. I needed tea, incense, and a long, hot bath. I could only get two of those, though, so I would settle for lying in my bed.

He shook his head slowly, his eyes blazing and smoldering in that way that always left me confused. I wanted to look into it, but I was just in too much pain to do so. "This may be your room, but it's my ship," he said as he tried to fix the curtain on my room, closing us off. I moved to the center of my room that only contained a circular rug, and I looked into the candle on my desk.

"Zuko…please…" I begged as I rubbed my temples. I knew that I was on edge, but I couldn't lash out at him, and I couldn't stand him being around me either. First of all he smelled too good, which made me confused, which then made my head hurt from thinking. "I…I can't take this right now." _Not you. Not now._

Zuko crossed the room in three easy strides, standing in front of me silently. He stood there, probably expecting me to look up, but I couldn't. He then gently grasped my chin between his thumb and forefinger, pulling my face up to look him in the eyes. He was silent for a moment, just looking at me, making me blush. "I wanted to talk to you about something, Emiko."

I looked up to him with defiance that at the moment, I really didn't have. But him in so close a proximity made my body react in ways that wasn't usual, sensations that weren't natural going on on the inside. "Oh? And if I don't want to talk about it to _you_?" _Especially not right NOW, of all times?_

He was still holding me, still making me look up to him. "Then I will command you to listen and answer, won't I?"

My lip worked its way in between my teeth, and I started to worry it. "You can't make me do anything." _You give me another one of those kisses, though, and I'll forget where I am. Wait, why am I thinking of that? He wasn't going to kiss me, he just wants answers._

His laugh rang out through the room, and he dropped his hand. But now he started backing me up. Anxiety should have shot through me, as I hated being cornered, or pushed against a wall, but for some reason my hormones acted of their own accord and I felt a weird sensation where cramps usually formed. His hand touched mine once, making a spark fly through my arm, and I wanted to throw my arms around him and kiss him.

_Ha, like that would happen._

Now I was backed up against the wall, and he raised his hand and put it next to my head, leaning down to look into my eyes. "Now, Emiko…tell me something, please." A tear fell down my cheek, and he reached out to gently wipe it away. "_The tears of the tearless_…" he mumbled irritably, sighing. "Just something else that doesn't make sense with you."

Still, I said nothing. He wouldn't understand. Koh, _I_ barely understood and it was all about me! But believe me, if I could give up the hormones, the information, the powers, I would do so in a heartbeat. Because it was starting to be more than I could handle.

"Just answer me these two questions, and I won't bother you anymore about the subject." He reached down to grab my hand, and he pulled it up to gently kiss my fingers. I shivered as he whispered, "I swear."

I didn't answer for a moment, letting the feeling of his thumb rubbing against my fingers keep me occupied as I thought about the consequences. "…I won't answer, if it involves certain things," I finally whispered, looking at my calendar behind him instead of _at_ him. I knew that if I looked at his handsome face, I would lose all thought process and want to spill it all.

His lips lingered on my fingers. "…I can live with that."

_Can you?_ I thought helplessly, tears stinging my eyes. But I wouldn't let them fall. So, with the raging migraine, my throat was now tight and my eyes burned and my nose was all stuffy.

"Now…why were you at the fortress?" I saw the other questions that he wanted to ask, about Firebending, about daggers, about fighting, but I couldn't answer them, I just couldn't. He put down my hand and leaned closer to me, his forehead on mine as he looked me in the eyes.

This wasn't what I was expecting. I thought he'd ask why I'd about been to kill Jee, or why my tears were _of the Tearless_, or why my fire was white. Or maybe even why I had gone berserk on him. "…Why else?" I whispered, turning my head so I could look at anything else but him. "I owe you so much, Zuko…I thought I could help."

His hand reached up and forcefully grabbed my face, making me look at him as he held me with that murderous glare. "You could've gotten _hurt_. Then what help would you have been?"

I scoffed at him and looked away once more. "None of them would have hurt me, or it would've been their _heads_." He really didn't know what his shouting did to me. The tears accumulated behind my eyes, but I forced them to leave. I didn't like to upset him. I didn't want to have him angry with me. "I…didn't intend to hurt you, either."

"That belongs to the second question," he informed me. Now he took a step closer, placing both hands on my hips and pushing me closer to the wall, pulling me closer to him. "Why…did you fight me?"

His body was long and muscular, every bit different from my soft curves. And every nerve in my body was on high-alert. _Passion,_ my brain though automatically thought, _a powerful emotion such as love, joy, hatred, or anger. Strong sexual desire, lust. Ardent love. _These thoughts sent a haze of emotion through my body that surrounded me, engulfing me, and I leaned forwards... _Stop it, stop right there! Answer his question, will you?_

I tried to get rid of the other thoughts by turning angry on him. "You were the chance to escape. I needed to show Zhao that I was trustworthy, then rip every single thread of hope he had for me out from the big tapestry he was building. And besides, I didn't know that it was you. I wanted to get the Avatar for you."

His eyes widened slightly, and he ran a finger over my bottom lip, lighting fire in the blood underneath my skin. "You..." He sighed, moving his hand to cup my cheek, to look into my eyes. "Why does he hate you?" Zuko asked, his eyes not teasing or bitter about his losing to me, but curious…just curious.

"He doesn't…!" I clenched my eyes shut and shook my head, placing both hands on either of my temples. The tears were trying to come again, but I couldn't hold them back any longer. "…That's three questions…"

"Emiko…" he whispered, leaning down to gently kiss away my tears, "I only mean the best."

"I just can't tell you everything," I sobbed, leaning my head into his chest, putting my hands on his shoulders. He used one arm to steady me around my waist, and then used the other to stroke my hair, my back. "_Shh_…"

I hiccuped from the crying, sobbed out my heart. I wished that I could tell him what Zhao was to me, what he had planned. I wished that I could tell him what my fire meant, or even the two-thousand-and-three uses of cheese, just to get it off of my mind.

His cool lips were suddenly on my neck, and I leaned into him. Goosebumps rose, and the sensations in my body begged for his lips to be on mine. "Emiko, quit your crying…you'll only make yourself sick."

"I-I-I kn-know…"

Suddenly he stopped kissing my neck and froze. He pulled away and used one hand to grab my chin, the other to push the hair from my neck. "Emiko, something's wrong about you."

I pulled my chin away and readied myself for even more questions. "What makes you say that?" _No, he can't know!_

He stared for a second longer, and then his eyes got wide. I knew he had seen it, knew he had felt it when his lips were kissing my neck. "Your mother's necklace…it's _gone_." He caressed the skin of my neck, softly tracing the place where the necklace had been.

I tried to laugh coldly, but it came out as a sob and I pushed away from him. It took a moment, because he held me tight, but I managed to move. "Helping you save the Avatar…was a foolish thing for me to do. I know that's what you're thinking. But in the end…did you think that it would cost _nothing_?"

He shook his head. "Emiko, I…I wasn't thinking that."

"You were and you know it. You think just like every other man out there! Obnoxious, horrible, sexist…" That started up a fire inside of me. "You think that every woman should be barefoot and pregnant, only around to suit her husband's needs, to cook, clean, take care of the children, use in bed and then _throw away _when you get done using her!"

"Emiko…" he took a step closer to me, making one more vile drop of liquid drip down my face.

_He never said that wasn't what he thought._ I wiped the traitorous tear away and looked to the floor. Some story about a traitorous, sexist pig was coming into my memory. It seemed rather new, actually. "Get out… Please."

He looked at me with concern, reaching out to place a hand on my shoulder. "It's…my ship."

Somehow I knew he would say that.

"Damn it, GET OUT!" I screeched, holding both hands to either side of my head. But before I could get them there, they spewed fire from my anger. I could feel the small circle of fire around my feet as I panted heavily, the pressure in my head becoming more than I could bear.

"Please…" I begged after my breathing returned to normal and I opened my clenched eyes to see him still standing there. "Go…"

He did as I asked. But, when door closed, I heard a crash of something. What it was, I didn't know, but there was a loud, "Damn it!" and I knew that it was Zuko.

I shivered and shook my head, sitting down on my bed and sighing. "This is sure some birthday, isn't it? I just ruin _everything_." Blowing out the candle next to my bed, leaving myself in darkness, I whispered, "_Happy sixteenth birthday to me, I guess_."

_**Zuko**_

Zuko couldn't sleep. He still couldn't believe that Emiko was…that she was a _Firebender_! Attacking him as she had...it had been spectacular. That kind of power, packed into such a small woman...he'd noticed that she'd lost weight recently. Now she looked even more like the adult that she pretended to be, and her face was more...sculpted? There was something different about her, that was for sure. Well, what he was thinking was, why hadn't she told the ship about her Firebending. At first she had always acted as if it was always a joke.

Well, he definitely believed her now

The Prince sat up in his bed and sighed, leaning his bare back against the cool metal of the ship. His head was spinning. He had to confront Emiko again about her lies, about her past, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. The way she had acted last time was just something that he couldn't handle. And the way that she had looked at him, as she'd stood in front of him, and the way that she had leaned into his lips. He still wished that he had kissed her again, no matter the consequences.

He still remembered the red of her eyes, back at the fortress, the way her hair and body glowed with that alien color. She had to have been hundreds of degrees hotter than her normal temperature, because he remembered her sword turning a white, almost glowing color. But he had gotten two answers out of her at least, almost three. She had gone to save the Avatar, to help him so he wouldn't be banished forever. But…did Zhao hate her? She seemed to be in denial about the fact. And what, did all of that put together, mean?

He was cut off of his thinking when he heard the men finally coming to bed. He figured that they had been up all night, gossiping like old women around that damn fire in the cockpit. It had been the reason that Emiko had been thrown out into the rain that night. It was raining tonight, too.

Zuko opened the door of his room and watched as they walked towards their bunks. Finally, he decided that he would go stand on the deck. It was a cool night, and he was so confused… He just walked out with his pajama pants, thinking no one was out there.

He thought better when it was cool out.

Walking through the corridors, he could've sworn that he heard something, and that something revealed itself when he stepped onto the lowest deck. Emiko was at the front of the ship, her hair flying behind her.

She was gripping the railing with all of her might, tendon and bone showing underneath pale skin. It started sprinkling, and she looked up at the full moon, her dark hair matted and flowing in the wind. He was about to go after her, but then she started talking to herself. "…I miss you," she choked out, staring up into the stars. "I don't know if you can hear me or not, with it being night and all, but I just wanted to say...thank you."

Zuko blinked. What was she _talking_ about?

She stared up at the sky, her bright yellow eyes slightly dimmed. "The day you left me…the day I made you leave… It was the day that everything _changed_." She gently fell to her knees, sitting down on the floor and looking up into the rain. It was getting misty out, and everything was covered in an eerie moonlight. "…I-I didn't get around to kiss you goodbye…" she breathed, pausing for a breath before every word. "I wish that I could see you again. But I can't."

Zuko stared. He had never seen Emiko break down like she just was. It wasn't the fiery anger he was used to seeing, but instead a gentle breakdown, making her seem almost..._vulnerable._ She was crying again, something he didn't like seeing.

"It was all my fault, I know that now," she said softly, her face just as soft. "Spirits, why did you curse me? I loved her, I loved her so much. I didn't mean to do it. And now I'm here, without her. I have all of these powers, all of this information in my head...most of it useless, actually..."

Zuko didn't know what to do, but he couldn't just leave her there. Her misery was extending to him, and her pain was radiating around her. So before he knew it, he moved over to her. Her back was to him, and he grabbed her arms and pulled her surprised, soft, soft body up to his. She didn't seem to care that he was holding her. Actually, she turned in his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck, pushing her face into his chest. There, she let herself cry, finally.

She was so tiny under his bulk, and for the first time in a while, he realized that she really was nothing more than a child. She'd obviously had no parents to guide her, never learning how to really deal with anything. She'd never been with any men, she'd never given any man much of a second glance. She squeezed his waist in some kind of apology, maybe, before wetting his chest with tears.

Zuko didn't mind, though, because he was more worried about the way Emiko was acting. He had never seen her cry like this, even with the most excruciating pain. Only a few times. Only a few.

She continued to cry into his chest, and he continued to hold her there. "…Why…?" she mumbled finally. She said it over and over again, her voice cracking at several intervals.

"Why what?" Zuko asked her softly, smoothing down the back of her hair. He tightened his grip around her waist as she shuddered, and then she started into hysteria.

Emiko looked up into his eyes, hers wide, her face tear-stained, her face pale from the rain. "She's gone!" she cried, her eyes wide with fear and the truth of figuring whatever it was out. "She's gone and I can't bring her _back_!"

He didn't know what to do. He contemplated going to Uncle, but Zuko doubted that he knew what to do either. Instead, he took her soft face in his hands and looked her directly in the eyes. "Emiko, whatever you've done, it's over now."

She glared at him, red, milky tears streaming from her eyes. "It will _never_ be over," she growled through clenched teeth. "The Spirits will never let me forget what I've done!"

"The Spirits are a bunch of made-up stories by old men who sit around and do nothing all day but play Pai Sho," he growled back, hating the fact that she was getting her anger back. He much more preferred this Emiko over the silent, sobbing one, but he didn't enjoy it in the least. And Zuko hated all of the talk about the Spirits, as if they could hear him and everyone else around and change what happened in life.

Emiko tore his hands away from her face and slapped him hard, letting a sting replace where his cheek used to be. He stared at her with wide eyes as hers started to glow a strange color. "_Don't talk about the Spirits like that_," she snapped, her old self back for one moment.

"I'll talk about the _Spirits_ however I want," he retorted angrily, moving to dodge another slap to his face. Why did he always have to be angry back at her, though? The damned woman brought out the worse in him.

Suddenly, before he got his wits back about it, she tackled him over onto the ground. He fought away the scratches aimed for his head, and he was barely prepared when she tried to Firebend at him.

"Take it back!" she yelled before Zuko jumped up and the ignorant girl followed suit. "_NOW_!"

She punched her arm out, sending a bright plume of white fire in his direction. It didn't even sizzle out in the rain. Instead, her rage made it more powerful. He barely dodged it, so the flame grazed his night robe and set it aflame.

After a moment, the fire sizzled out.

The Prince grabbed her wrist when she punched her fist out again, and then flung it over her head. Being in a confused state, she let out a gasp of surprise when he grabbed her other wrist and pulled it behind her back, pushing her to the floor. Her cheek made a hollow _THUD_ as it hit the cold, wet metal.

"Stupid woman, quit _fighting_!" Zuko yelled, holding her down. "You know I won't hesitate to hit you back!"

She sobbed and laid her head back down on the metal, clenching her eyes shut. "Take it back…" she pleaded. It was almost pathetic, now. He didn't understand why she was so upset about the—

_Oh **Spirits**_…

That explained everything! The hair, the fire, the glowing…_everything down to the last tantrum_.

_She's a…a…_

She was a Spirit. Or at least a hull for one.

He relaxed his grip on her in his surprise and watched as she curled into a little ball on the floor, her red tears floating on the standing water left on the deck. After a second, the tears evaporated the water and singed the metal before they disappeared completely.

Emiko's breathing slowed down some, after a while, and he put his hand over her forehead. She wasn't usually that cool. And, if his hunch was correct, about her being a Spirit then this was bad business.

Oh why hadn't he listened to Uncle whenever he told him all of those stories? Why hadn't he _listened_? It would all come in handy right now. He would know how to treat her, what to say, how to act…

"…Emiko…?" he asked quietly, mopping back her wet bangs to look at her. She was staring blankly at the puddle in front of her, not really seeing it. It was more like she was an empty shell, and all that was left was her body.

"…Leave me alone…" she whispered, her lips barely moving.

"Emiko, listen to me!" he cried, grabbing her and pulling her up, shaking her body. "I didn't mean what I said earlier, okay? I was just…I don't know, worried, alright?"

"…Leave me alone…" she mumbled again, her head falling lifeless to the side. Her eyes were still open, though, which made Zuko confused. He knew that he wasn't getting through to her. If he wanted to get her to do what he wanted, to get her out of this state of idiocy, then he was going to have to…

Wait, what _was_ he going to do?

Then a thought hit him. If it worked—which it would, as it had in the past—she would be so back to normal that she'd be cussing him out. But did he want to do it? He looked at the pitiful face in front of him, the beautiful, flawless face of one of Agni's angels, and smiled softly.

Yeah, he thought he could do it.

The Prince took her face in his hands and pulled it closer to his. When their lips touched, he felt her respond, making his blood burn, making him tangle his fingers in her wet hair, to pull her closer. One hand wandered her soft body, having a mind of its own. She complied, which startled him, and before he knew it he was so out of breath and dizzy that he couldn't see straight. He looked at the position he was in and saw that he had laid her back onto the floor, and her hands were tangled in his undone hair. He noted that she was staring up at him, confusion and pain in her eyes.

Emiko didn't understand, and neither did he, for that matter. He didn't know what the force was in the kiss they had shared, or why he felt that way, but for some reason it was a good feeling.

Zuko pulled further away, knowing he couldn't go too far like he wanted to. He quickly stood up and picked the still confused Emiko up, letting her wind her arms around his neck and intertwine her fingers into his hair.

Spirits, she smelt so good in the rain…

_Focus!_ he commanded himself, walking quickly towards her quarters. _She's sick and in pain, and you can't be having foolish fantasies about her._ He wanted to slap himself for talking back to himself.

For the first time since he had saved her from drowning, Zuko felt that she wasn't an inferno anymore. She felt like any other person in the world, other than the Waterbenders whose temperatures were lower than most people's.

He froze in his steps as Emiko put her lips on his neck and drug them up to his jaw, where she took one hand out from behind his neck and tilted his face back down to hers. She wasn't confused anymore, but more like _curious_. He could still see the hurt in her eyes, but now it was overshadowed by something else.

She gingerly craned her neck and kissed his lips softly. It was gentle, though, filled with some kind of emotion that he'd never felt. It was almost as if it were apologetic, though that couldn't be the word. It was so soft that he knew that it couldn't turn into something else. Then she pulled away. Seeming content, she sighed and rested her head back down on his shoulder where she fell asleep.

Zuko's heart was racing. He still made his way to her room, but he looked at her the entire time, millions of questions running through his head. Finally he made it to her room, and he sat her down on her bed, gently covering her up and trying to get the chill off of her body.

Taking one last look at the girl in the bed, he blew out the candle and left the room in darkness, as well as his thoughts.

* * *

**Oooh...so, Emiko is remembering things. Things that she shouldn't really remember, and its kind of freaking her out. Don't ask about the cheese thing, I'm the author and I don't even know what its about! And Zuko's getting all touchy-feeling with Emiko. Hey, he got the answers out of her, didn't he? Oh, and then at the _end_...Zuko knows how to get someone to calm down, that's for sure. Emiko wasn't rejecting very much though, was she?**

**So anyways, here's a look at the next, very REVEALING chapter, "The Past Part V: Mother:"**

"Mommy!" I cried before I ran into the street. "Mommy! Mommy! Where are you?" I stared in horror as the whole building started collapsing. "MOMMY!" I screamed, running into the building.

Voices called to me from outside. "Emiko, NO!"

"Get that girl out of there!"

"Someone help her!"

I looked around, trying to find my mother in the burning store. The fire licked at me, but I couldn't feel it. I felt as if it were tickling me, and the feeling was strange, but I wanted my mother! "Mommy? Mommy?" I cried but then gasped. I saw my mother's necklace on the ground. She never took that necklace off. And...and that could only mean one thing.

_Mommy...where did you go?_


	16. The Past: Part V

**Now this one, it really _is_ the past! You learn a LOT of things in this chapter, and then some Emiko/Zuko action at the end(; PS: THERE ARE ONLY FIVE CHAPTES LEFT IN PART 1! Just saying(:**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender. The series would have been longer):**

* * *

**The Past: Part V**

**Mother**

_**Eleven Years Ago**_

"Happy Birthday, sweetheart," Mommy was saying as she hugged me, and I smiled up to her, showing her my first gone tooth. "I'll be right back, okay?" My mother was standing in front of the general store, basking in the sun's light. It really was a pretty day, and it was perhaps the hottest of the year. I was okay with that, though, as long as I was with my mommy. And Ryuu would be home that night, the day was looking amazing! Even if Jasmine wasn't happy. Well, she hadn't seemed that way in the morning, at least.

Oh, Mommy was already inside. I decided to run into the alleyway next to the store, climbing up on some old boxes, and tried to see what my mom was getting me for my birthday, but it was really boring because she was talking to the owner and not touching anything. So I sighed and clutched my bunny-cat doll to my chest.

Then I heard a voice from behind me. "Oh, look at me, I'm Emiko, and I still hug my stuffed animal_!_" said the mimicking voice.

I didn't even have to turn around to see who it was. "Go away, Daichi!" He was the first son of my father's Commander, so that made him think that he was better than me. Well he wasn't. I knew for a fact that he picked his nose when no one was looking. I'd bitten that off at the beginning of the year.

Suddenly Mr. Snuggles was pulled from my arms, and I turned around to see the boys dancing in a circle, chanting, "_Dollies, dollies!_"

I turned back to him and gave him a pleading look, feeling my small, five-year-old heart breaking as they tugged at him. "Give back Mr. Snuggles!" I cried. Tears welled in my eyes, and I felt my chin quivering.

The boy next to him snickered. "Take it from us, then."

"Give back Mr. Snuggles!" I cried again, watching them start to tear it apart. "That was Mommy's!" But they wouldn't, so I knew that I had to go to my mom to break them up. I turned around to see where she was in the store, through the window, and what I saw there wasn't apparent at first. Two men were in there, dirty clothes, with some kinds of weapons. Mommy was holding her hands in front of her, trying to calm them down. She'd used that face when trying to convince Daddy and Ryuu to calm down during a fight. That was when I knew that they were going to hurt my mommy!

I quickly jumped down from the boxes, staggering as I tried to get my footing back, and tried to run. But Daichi and his boys got in my way. "Where d'you think you're going, Emiko?"

"M-my mommy called me," I lied, feeling my heartbeat go up, and some kind of panic welling inside.

"I didn't hear your momma," one of the others said mockingly.

And when I tried to run past, they held me back. "Let me go, Daichi, my momma needs me!" Tears of panic came to my eyes, and now I could hear my momma as if she were close, and she was telling me to calmly get help. I didn't know how she could talk to me while she was inside the store and I was out there, but she did, and I didn't question it.

They grasped my arms, holding me back mocking me, surrounding me. My heart was going faster than it ever had, and I felt the heat around me rising. I knew that my Firebending got out of control when I was angry, or panicking, but I had to go, and, and—

That did it. Flames shot from all around me in a rage. I couldn't control anything. I couldn't move, tell right from wrong…I couldn't even really see. Everything was fogged over in red, oh the red! But then again, I didn't really care what happened to these guys. I just wanted my bunny back, and to save mom, and to never see any of them again! I wanted to go _home_!

The fire licked the sides of the buildings that were next to me and set their dry roofs on fire. Red colored my eyesight even more, and then was the ground gone? No, in truth I had floated away from it. Everything else was blurred even worse now. I _thought_ I could smell smoke, but then again I couldn't tell anything. The boys in front of me screamed and jumped through my wall of fire to the safety of the street.

"It's a monster!" a woman screamed from the street. "It's that little freak, Emiko!"

I felt the flames get hotter as I turned angrily towards her. Yet again, the fire licked the building. A line of men were surrounding the buildings, holding buckets of some kind.

A bucket brigade, I thought later.

Suddenly, screams of terror came from the store to my right.

"Mommy?" I asked dreamily. I felt myself descend, and finally I was on the ground, barely able to stand on my feet. My legs wobbled from the little weight I carried.

More screams came from inside the store. Three, I later realized. Three besides my mother.

"Mommy!" I cried before I ran into the street. "Mommy! Mommy! Where are you?" I stared in horror as the whole building started collapsing. "MOMMY!" I screamed, running into the building.

Voices called to me from outside. "Emiko, NO!"

"Get that girl out of there!"

"Someone help her!"

I looked around, trying to find my mother in the burning store. The fire licked at me, but I couldn't feel it. I felt as if it were tickling me, and the feeling was strange, but I wanted my mother! "Mommy? Mommy?" I cried but then gasped. I saw my mother's necklace on the ground. She never took that necklace off. And...and that could only mean one thing.

_Mommy...where did you go?_

I suddenly flew up and I used one hand to grip the bed and the other hand to clench my leg. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I had never felt a pain like it, other than emotional and the one time that— Another pang of fire ran up my leg, and I screamed again in protest to the burning. Tears flew down my face, and I felt like I should have used all of those tears up last night when I had cried to the Spirits.

I didn't have time to wonder why that scene was blurry in my mind's eye, though, because I had to choke to keep a scream in. That was the moment that Zuko, Uncle, and the rest of the crew ran into my room with scant clothing on. I didn't pay attention, though, because that was when I saw my room and I choked on my tears.

The whole room was burnt to a crisp, every last one of my things. I quickly looked over to where my desk was supposed to have been, but all I saw was ash. Then, beneath it, something gleamed. It made me exhale as thankfully as I possibly could while in that pain, and I knew that my mother's items were safe.

Zuko ran over to me when I screamed again, and he held me close to his bare chest. "It'll be okay, Emiko…shhh…" My nails dug into his shoulder, and he grabbed my forearm in a reflex motion. I couldn't help but use my other arm to squeeze the life out of his neck. He gently took that arm and wrapped it around his waist, pulling me closer.

I stuffed my face into the hard planes of his chest. For some reason it comforted me. His cool skin against my warm, rubbing my bare back, stroking my arms, caressing my face. He was so muscled, so hard against my softness that it made me feel like I had something strong to lean against.

"_It hurts_…" I whispered as his lips kissed each of my eyelids.

He was silent for a moment, then asked, "What hurts, Emm?" in the softest voice I had ever heard from him. "What hurts…"

I was going to answer, so I almost didn't notice when cold fingertips grazed my legs.

Almost.

Letting out a screech, I saw that it was only Uncle, inspecting the area where I had been clutching my leg. His eyes opened in horror. "She's…_burned_."

Zuko put his forehead to mine and talked me down. "You'll be okay…it's alright…it's not your fault…" His lips left impressions on my forehead, my eyelids, my cheeks…

I wrapped my arm tighter around his muscled waist. "Yes it is…it _is_ my fault…"

He tensed up, and then the glare he gave me seemed to say, '_Spirits, I've been though this before_.' But his hands still caressed my tears away.

Jee walked over to me and put his hand on my shoulder. It was just something else that was cold to me. "I'm sorry for the way I treated you, Emiko. I wish I could redo these weeks together." He had a sincere look in his that said he meant it and he knew something that I hadn't wanted him to know.

The others nodded to show that they meant it too. So they also knew, but at the moment I was in so much pain that I couldn't think exactly what it was.

"You are the most powerful gir—woman I have ever met," Jee finished.

Uncle motioned for most of the crew to resume their positions and to go back to bed. He then told Jee and his friend to get bandages and water and sponges. "You'll be fine, Emiko…" he assured me, kissing my forehead.

_**Outside...**_

Zuko and Uncle went outside with the doctor to discuss Emiko's injuries.

"She's suffering from 3rd degree burns on both of her legs," Doc said grimly. "I don't see how she could've gotten them…she had to do it herself!"

Uncle shook his head. "That's not it."

Zuko butted in. "That's not like her." He hadn't meant to speak out of turn, but he felt that he knew her better now. Back then she had talking about one of her parents, one that she hurt horribly and the Spirits she thought were the problem.

She…_was_ a Spirit herself.

"…She had a dream."

Doc laughed like Iroh was crazy. "Please, General, I'm a _doctor_! I _know_ what a burn is, and this _wasn't_ a bad dream. I have come to the conclusion that it was because of what today represents—"

"What does today represent?" Zuko asked curiously, interrupting the old man who gave him a stern look.

"It is her birthday. Do not interrupt me." He cleared his throat while Zuko's mouth fell open in surprise and Iroh nodded in assessment. "As I was _saying_, because of what today represents, and she felt a certain way, she tried to Firebend and ended up heating up the metal walls, burning everything including herself."

Zuko was shocked. _B…birthday? Why didn't she tell us?_

Iroh shook his head. "No, Kuok, it was a _dream_. But when she has any particular dream about her past, it _happens_ to her. The fire from her childhood has burned her yet again. She didn't get out of her dream fast enough this time, so it did more damage than when she was little; that healed, this did not."

Zuko put his head down and looked into her room. She was lying on her side, clutching her legs. Her chest moved up and down like a humming moth's in a snow storm, her hair a tangled mess around her head. "…I didn't think that Emiko had that bad of a past." He still couldn't understand, but somehow he knew inside that Uncle was right.

Uncle put his hand on Zuko's shoulders and shook his head. "You will never know the half of it, my nephew."

Oh, but he did.

_**Emiko**_

I carefully sat up and tried to walk to the door in the dark. My energy was zapped, but I forced myself to walk anyways. It was painful and excruciating, but if I didn't do it, my bladder would burst. So I pushed myself forwards and almost made it there, when suddenly a voice startled me.

It was a familiar—if unwelcome—voice that from next to the doorframe. "Oh no you don't," he said as picked me up, one arm under my knees, the other right behind my back. I flinched not only from his touch, but his gravelly voice as well.

_Zuko_. "Let…me…go…" I said slowly, trying not to show my pain.

"You _will_ lie back down."

I glared at him in the dark, even if he couldn't see it. I was silent for a moment, before I felt that every bone in my body was tired, but my bladder was full. "I have to go to the bathroom," I sighed tiredly.

I couldn't tell, but it looked like he frowned when I said that. "Umm…"

Angrily I rolled my eyes. He was such an idiot! If I didn't get to the restroom _now_, then I was going to EXPLODE! I pushed out of his arms and limped out to the door, yelping when I stubbed my toe on the jam.

Zuko rushed over to me, and, growling protests under his breath, led me to the bathroom. I walked in and he tried to follow me, but I held out a hand and pushed him back. "Uh, what part of _restroom_ do you not get here?" I asked him, trying to ignore that he was shirtless, or that he was trying to come in with me. "I'm pretty sure I can go number one by _myself_, thank you very much."

He blushed and stepped back, allowing me to slam the door in his face.

When I got out, he picked me up again and carried me like a baby to my room. I didn't like the fact, but it happened anyways. He sat me down on my bed and kissed my forehead before blowing out a candle he lit.

"Thank you," I mumbled stubbornly in the dark.

I could've sworn that he smiled. "You don't have to thank me," he said, smugness inked in his tone. "Protecting you is enough thanks that I need."

It was silent for a few more moments, with a pregnant pause between us. Finally I decided to say what I felt. "I'm scared," I admitted in a soft, defeated voice. I didn't like to say it, but I was. I was terrified to go back to what I had seen, because now it replayed over and over in my mind. If I closed my eyes, it was all I saw. It was practically engraved on the inside of my eyelids.

He sat next down on the bed and smoothed my hair back, making me jump in surprise. My eyesight had gotten considerably better, but I was so tired that I couldn't' even see him in the darkness of the room. "Of?"

"Of sleeping."

"Ah." It was a quick answer, and maybe he had heard me talking in my sleep. I knew that I tended to do that quite a bit. I hoped not, because him knowing my past was the _last _thing I wanted. "Because of the nightmares?"

I didn't answer.

"You can't stay afraid of your dreams forever, Emiko," he whispered, and I knew that he was leaning towards me. I longed for the touch of his lips on mine, and perhaps I had sent that hope to him because he touched his lips to mine. The foggy night reopened itself to me. I remembered every feeling, every moment…

I lifted my arm up and let my hand caress his cheek, allowing his kiss to push against me even more. His lips slowly parted mine each time they touched them, and he kept pulling at my lips with his. He nipped softly, pulled and touched until I was nothing but a melted puddle on the bed.

My eyes widened when I figured out what I was doing, but for some reason I wanted to keep doing it! I even had a share in parts of those kisses by pulling on his lower lip, showing extra attention

I managed to pull slowly away, and I laid my head down on the pillow and pretended to be asleep. My heart was still beating wildly, my breathing slightly erratic. But he didn't seem to notice. Zuko sighed and wiped the hair out of my face once more before he returned to his place by the door. Before long I heard steady breathing, and I knew he was asleep.

But I couldn't after what I just realized.

* * *

**Um...wow. I mean, this chapter kind of reveals a lot. And more coming up will reveal even more! I really want to hear your thoughts about this chapter, I really do. **

**So, here's a look at the next chapter, "Emiko versus Mutiny:"**

"_Excuse me_?" I asked, setting down my tray so the cleaning crew could do their job and I could turn around and confront the men.

The leader was mockingly surprised. "Oh, _sorry_ Miss Emiko, you heard that?" He elbowed his team member and chuckled.

I set my jaw and glared daggers. "I _hope_ I didn't hear it." _Insolent __bastards__! _

The man was tall with a small waist and broad shoulders. He had dark, tanned skin and bright yellow eyes below black hair, and those piercing eyes made me want to squirm as if under scrutiny. Everything about him seemed sharp—his cheekbones, his chin, his eyebrows.

He smiled wickedly, showing even sharper teeth. "I don't know, what did you _want_ to hear?"

I knew that if I let this go, it'd be spread all around the ship. These guys were the part of the crew that didn't respect Zuko, and they were only on because they had to serve some community service for a long while. So, being hardened criminals, Ozai decided to put them on his son's ship.

But I couldn't confront them. Navy Ship rule number one: never fight with a shipmate. Now the _captain_, on the other hand…that was the only reason I had even _dared_ to attack _him_. It didn't matter if you attacked the captain—with a reasonable cause, of course—because it went along the lines of defending yourself. Now, on a Pirate ship, it counted as mutiny and you would be hung from the gallows.

"I don't _want_ to hear anything else," I growled as I glared into his eyes. Those deep, piercing, _frightening_ eyes. "So I suggest you keep your mouth _shut_, Lieutenant."

He smirked once more, making a tiny shiver of fear run up my spine. "I'll do whatever you want, little lady."

Giving him one last dirty look and snatching up an extra biscuit off Cook's counter, I stormed off, but not before I heard one more nasty comment about my virtue. I clenched my eyes shut and continued down the hall, just at a much faster pace. _Don't kill him. Don't kill them. Damn them to the Abyss, but I can't kill them!_


	17. Emiko versus Mutiny

**Sooo...hmm. I really don't have all that much to say. Other than this is the chapter where the rating "M" comes in. So, just read(:**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender. If I did, I would have Zuko all to myself(:**

* * *

**Emiko versus Mutiny**

I don't know how it happened, or how they figured it out, but it and they just did apparently. It all happened one day as I was eating my dinner in the mess hall. They didn't think I could hear them, I guess, but…

Saying something like that wasn't hard to miss.

"_Excuse me_?" I asked, setting down my tray so the cleaning crew could do their job and I could turn around and confront the men.

The leader was mockingly surprised. "Oh, _sorry_ Miss Emiko, you heard that?" He elbowed his team member and chuckled.

I set my jaw and glared daggers. "I _hope_ I didn't hear it." _Insolent __bastards__!_

The man was tall with a small waist and broad shoulders. He had dark, tanned skin and bright yellow eyes below black hair, and those piercing eyes made me want to squirm as if under scrutiny. Everything about him seemed sharp—his cheekbones, his chin, his eyebrows.

He smiled wickedly, showing even sharper teeth. "I don't know, what did you _want_ to hear?"

I knew that if I let this go, it'd be spread all around the ship. These guys were the part of the crew that didn't respect Zuko, and they were only on because they had to serve some community service for a long while. So, being hardened criminals, Ozai decided to put them on his son's ship.

But I couldn't confront them. Navy Ship rule number one: never fight with a shipmate. Now the _captain_, on the other hand…that was the only reason I had even _dared_ to attack _him_. It didn't matter if you attacked the captain—with a reasonable cause, of course—because it went along the lines of defending yourself.

Now on a Pirate ship, it counted as mutiny and you would be hung from the gallows.

"I don't _want_ to hear anything else," I growled as I glared into his eyes. Those deep, piercing, _frightening_ eyes. "So I suggest you keep your mouth _shut_, Lieutenant."

He smirked once more, making a tiny shiver of fear run up my spine. "I'll do whatever you want, little lady."

Giving him one last dirty look and snatching up an extra biscuit off Cook's counter, I stormed off, but not before I heard one more nasty comment about my virtue.

I clenched my eyes shut and continued down the hall, just at a much faster pace. _Don't kill him. Don't kill them. Damn them to the Abyss, but I can't kill them!_

_**Zuko**_

Zuko stood on the main deck and watched over the men that were doing their jobs. Most of the work was under the deck, in the coal rooms, but there still needed to be maintenance and cleaning done up top.

Some men, though, were just milling around during their breaks. Others were practicing their fighting and Firebending skills. Many were just looking out across the ocean, into the sun that was slowly rising in the distance.

Uncle bitterly scratched his chin and grumbled irately under his breath, taking the Prince out of his daze. The old General picked up a tile, then put it back down to just think again. He scratched his head and looked down at the Pai Sho board. "Well, Emiko," he muttered, his tone befuddled, "I think that you might have beaten me. The student has bested the teacher."

She smiled slyly, she, the glorious angel of Agni himself as she sat across from him. "Looks like you've lost, Uncle." She studied the board, her eyes shifting only slightly as she calculated everything on the board.

Uncle noticed this and made sure that he studied the board harder. Zuko tried to keep his eyes on the crew or the board, but his eyes kept wandering to Emiko. Her hair flew in the sunlight, seeming to become the streams of light themselves. Her bright yellow eyes flashed challengingly as they focused on the board.

Finally a glint of knowledge flashed in Iroh's eyes. "Ah." Emiko groaned when he finally saw the only thing he could've done. "It looks like I win once more, Sunshine."

_That you are_, Zuko thought while he watched her pull her hair to one shoulder and bitterly pull at it. Her fingers brushed through it gently, deftly braiding it in almost no time at all, and she pulled a rubber band off her wrist to loosely tie the hair there. He'd always thought that her hair was gorgeous. Thick, sensuous, it made a man want to run his fingers through it.

Emiko was a very sore looser it seemed. "You wouldn't have won if I could keep a straight poker face."

"You _did_, though," Iroh chuckled, putting one of his hands on hers. "I just know you too well."

She sighed. "I guess you do, Uncle." She scooted her chair back and stood up to stretch, her body curving as she did so. Zuko swore that his mouth started watering, but he turned to look away before any irrational thoughts wanted to worm their way into his mind. Lately, he couldn't get her off of his mind. Perhaps it was the fact that she didn't shun him, didn't think that he looked like a monster. Maybe it was just that he wanted to kiss her. That could be it. Or perhaps that he hadn't really known a woman for many years.

_You could just pull her into the shadows very quickly, if you wanted to…_ his brain whispered, making his face scrunch up in confusion. _You could do anything you wanted. You're the captain._ But he knew that he couldn't, and that it wasn't his brain doing the talking. He knew that nothing could really happen between him, but his curiosity was piqued. He had to know more about her. He had to know more about _them_. Or at least what he though of when he thought of _them_.

Finally he couldn't stand it anymore. He went over to her and stood almost directly beside her, feeling her warmth even through his armor. "Emiko, if I may have a word."

She tensed a little, then looked up into his eyes with her usual defiance. "Okay then."

He waited for her to take the lead, but she didn't move. He cleared his throat. "_Alone_."

Her arms crossed over her chest in another act of defiance. "Anything you have to say to me can be said right here in front of Uncle and the rest of the crew, can't it?"

"…No."

She looked torn. As if, maybe, she was thinking the exact thing he did. _If I go with her, will I be able to stop myself from doing something that isn't right?_

He laid a hand gently on the middle of her back and started to lead her off. It would be so easy to just flex his muscle and bring her around to face him. It would be so easy to use the other hand to take that glorious hair out of it's holder.

_Calm yourself, fool_, he growled to himself. He didn't even know why he kept thinking this. She was shorter than women he fancied, and her shape wasn't how he would prefer it. Her skin was pale enough, but her eyes were almost too much so. All in all, he wasn't attractive to him. Or she shouldn't have been.

She was leaning slightly against him, her dream-burn still making her limp horridly. She had kept her legs covered up ever since it happened, and he only wished that he could somehow sooth her. Or maybe even help get rid of the scar. But he wanted to do that for himself as well, and so far there was nothing that had even come close to getting rid of the scar.

They made it to the meeting room, and he sat her down at the head of the table. "Now, for what I wanted to tell you…"

"Is it about the criminal part of your crew?" she asked suddenly, startling him out of what he was really going to say while he was trying to sit down in the chair next to her.

He frowned, thinking that he was only telling her this so he could get her alone. "…No. Why, is there something you need to say to me?" Those men were a pain in his ass. They were damn close to mutiny, and that was the reason they were on the ship in the first place! They had only been on the ship for, what, three weeks?

She blushed and looked to her hands clasped in her lap. "…No."

Though he knew that she was lying. He knew her tell from a mile away. She either looked away from your eyes, or she bit her lip in an attempt to keep her mouth shut. Sometimes, even, she would put her hair in front of her or mess with it, just as she had whenever Iroh had only one shot to win at Pai Sho this morning.

But he wouldn't ask what was the matter just yet. He had more pressing issues to discuss. "Now, Emiko…I know that this is a rough patch for you, but," he cleared his throat and said quietly, "Zhao is close. The _Avatar _is close."

Her hands gripped the table, and it almost seemed to creak under the pressure. "…Zhao is…_here_?" The last word came out cracked, terrified.

He quickly placed his hand on hers. "No! No, Emiko, no." She didn't relax. "No, I'm just saying that he is close. The recon we sent out on the mini ship came back and told us that he's within fifty nautical miles of us."

A single tear threatened to reach her eyes, but she quickly threw a mask over her face. "I…I see. And,"—she cleared her throat—"what about the Avatar?"

He frowned. So far, the Avatar had eluded his grasp. "We know that he is close to the North Pole. We're following him, but…so far there's _nothing_."

"I…see," she said again. She looked the ground, her brow wrinkled in frustration, as if she didn't see. "Well…we could send out small search parties, if we wanted. I could man one."

He thought on it for a moment, imagining her trying to man one of his small cutters. There was no way he would allow it in the first place, but the thought was comical. "No, we can't do that. The Waterbenders would see us coming and capture my men before they had a chance to get away."

"Oh. Alright, then. Just…give me a second to think. That's the reason that you asked me here, right? So I could help you with the Avatar and my—Zhao?" She cursed herself under her breath, grasping her leg, and he knew that she had cursed because of pain.

"Hm? Oh. Yes. That's why." He couldn't help but gaze upon her beautiful face as it curved in disappointment and confusion.

Finally after a while, she sighed and shook her head. "No. I can't think of anything else but reconnaissance. That's all I was trained in, Zuko."

"Your idea was helpful, though," he admitted., knowing that it would never happen. "I will admit it to Iroh and see what he says of it."

"_Damn_…" she mumbled, resting her elbows on the table, her chin on her fists. Her brow creased even more. "I wish I could think of s-something else to help, but… _Damn_!"

Zuko chuckled and leaned over, smoothing out the creases on her forehead with his thumb. "It's alright," he whispered as her eyes widened. He stood up and bent down next to her to look into her agitated eyes. "You don't have to be perfect at _everything_, Emiko."

"Oh, like y-you _don't_?" she asked wryly, grinning a little now. She placed a finger on his chest and had a look of challenge on her beautiful face. "Zuko, I'd _love_ to see you do something that you wouldn't be t-trying to perfect."

His smile became challenging now, as well. "The same to you." Some part of him was wondering why she was stammering, but he automatically dismissed it.

They smiled wryly, staring challengingly into each other's eyes, for longer than he had planned. It hadn't been that of a loving stare, it was more like I'll-rip-your-head-off-the-second-you-move kind of stare. He took time to admire her strange eyes again, noticing that they were slightly darker today. It might have been the fact that she was in pain, but the sun was up and they were usually rather bright.

Finally Zuko couldn't help it. He had to chuckle. The Prince stood up, holding out his hand so he could help her up. "Come on. We have to go to the helmsman's quarters and let him know our course for the Avatar and away from Zhao."

She gently put her hand on his and let him slowly pull her up. She leaned against him once more, her breathing a little more ragged. He looked down on her and saw that her face was slightly grey, a small sheen of sweat on her forehead.

"…Maybe you should sit down for a few more minutes," he stated as he stopped before he went out the door. "You don't look too good."

Emiko glared at him then the floor and bitterly pushed away from his hold. "I-I'm fine. I d-don't need you to tell me wh…when to r…rest." She limped along the corridor, her hand using the wall as a support. She stumbled once, and Zuko thought that his heart would beat out of his chest.

He kept up with her every step. "At least let me lead you, Emiko."

Face paling, she kept on. "N-no."

"You're going to collapse, damn woman!" he cried at her.

She just kept going. Her eyes glazed over after a little while, her breath heavy, her steps the same. Her limp was becoming more pronounced. Zuko finally grabbed her arm roughly and pushed her up against the wall. Her breathing hitched for a moment, then continued in the same, labored pattern. The Prince grabbed her other arm as well and kept her there, stationary.

A small, pained smile came over her face. "Y-you really don't take n-no for an answer, do you?"

The Prince shook his head slowly, glancing down at her lips with hungry eyes. "No, not really."

Emiko then shook her head as if she couldn't believe that he had said that. "There's certain… _consequences _to not say n-no sometimes…"

Zuko could only nod feverishly, and once again he was captivated by those eyes. He felt her cool breath against his lips, and he wanted her so badly that it hurt. He wanted to taste her lips on his, wanted to open those lips and take her completely. He wanted to know what she tasted like, how she felt against his body. He knew that he could never have her like he wanted, though. For one thing, it was dishonorable. For another, she would never allow it.

That is, he thought, until she leaned upwards ever so slightly and brushed her lips against his. He almost jerked back in surprise, but this was what his body wanted, and so he kissed her back. It was lighter than a buttermoth's touch, lighter than even the feather of a pelinguin. Her soft skin was gently scratched by his barely-there shadow, by the roughness of his lips.

But even though it was so soft, it made him want so much more. He had to clench his fist as he leaned her up against the wall, putting his arm next to her head. His fist only kept tightening…the thoughts that went through his mind frightened even him; she was breaking through his self-control.

She gently reached up and put her fingertips on his face, and they gently roamed before she slowly pulled away. She looked in his eyes, her chest moving up and down with effort, her eyes wary. "Z...Zuko?"

He grasped her chin gently, making her look back up from his lips and into his eyes. He leaned down to gently kiss the corner of her mouth, up her soft cheek, making her sigh, tickling his skin. "Yes?"

"I'm sorry."

Zuko pulled back and looked at her bright yellow eyes, gently caressing a cheekbone with his thumb. Was she talking about what had happened at the fortress? Or perhaps with June. Or maybe even what had happened after the fortress, where he had asked her about why she'd been there. Whatever it was, he didn't care. He just wanted to kiss her again.

So he did. He leaned down to kiss her once more, rougher, stronger. His lips parted hers, making her wrap her arms around his neck. Even when his tongue flickered over her lower lip, she only shivered in the unknown, in confusion, but still leaned into him.

Zuko knew that he had to go slow, else he would scare her away. He gently parted her lips, slowly, softly, and slid his tongue into her mouth. She opened her mouth hesitantly, letting him teach her, letting him show her how to be kissed by a man. He let his tongue gently caress hers, and her knees shook. He grabbed her limp leg and pulled it behind him, then the other, and she clamped her legs around his hips. He let his hands wander down her back as he held her to him, to her round, delectable butt. He couldn't help but let out a slow, ragged moan as he felt her curves and she fought against his tongue with hers.

_You need to stop_, his brain chided when he tilted his head more to the side to kiss her harder, let his tongue slide up and down hers. _You **have** to stop. _

Her breasts teased him as they pushed against he expanse of his chest, her parted legs against the part of him that wanted her. Spirits, he wanted her. He was surprised that she didn't pull away in fear when she moved her hips against his, feeling his lust moving against her maidenhood.

She moved her hips from side to side, taking her mouth from his. She nipped at his chin, tugged on his hair, traced his jaw with her tongue. He lowered his head to under her jaw, slowly sucking on her pulse. She squeezed her legs, and he instantly bit down on her neck, making her moan out his name. He tasted the salty tang of blood come from the small wound he had inflicted, and he softly lapped it up. She moaned again.

He quickly made her kiss him once more. He knew that if she didn't stop, he would strip her of all her clothing, lathing his tongue over everything he uncovered. He would fill her canal with his erection and take her completely, revel in the feel of his seed ejecting into her womb.

He slowly pulled away, his lips still reaching out to kiss her. He knew that, with that last thought, he had to stop. "Emiko_…_" he whispered hoarsely, his breath coming in heaves.

Suddenly she froze in her attempt to kiss him. Her eyes hardened and soon were roaming the halls.

Prince Zuko leaned forwards and gently nibbled her ear. "_What's wrong…?_" he whispered to her seductively, forgetting about all the bad things and only thinking about her. Her ear twitched under his lips.

"…Wait," she said all of a sudden, putting her palms on his chest. She applied a light pressure to push him away, but he kept close. She unwrapped her legs quickly, setting her feet on the ground. "Zuko, come on, I'm serious." Her eyes were wild with nervousness and the kiss that had just gone on.

He ran a hand down her hip and smiled seductively against her neck. "_So am I…_"

She froze once more and applied even more pressure to his chest. "No, no, come on. Come on, get _off_!"

The Prince gave her a confused look. For once in a long time they were together, and now she was pushing him away? The veil of want slid off of his eyes. "Emm, what's wrong?"

"Don't call me that right now," she growled as she pushed him away finally. "I've got to go!" And then men came walking down the halls, but Emiko was hidden in the nearest room, the door slamming.

Zuko was alone in the hallway.

The first things he heard were, "_I _know she's the most gorgeous thing on two legs, but do you see me trying to get a piece of that cake?"

And, "The new guys had better watch out. I see them eying Emiko like a bite to eat, and with Emiko's cooking that's pretty dangerous."

"They touch her and I kill them," was another one.

"She's the Prince's girl. They '_touch her_' and it'll be _their _hides, not ours."

Zuko sighed and walked away, ignoring them. The crew couldn't be that protective of her, not after what they did. They couldn't care at _all _about her.

And he sure as hell didn't care about the new crew.

_**Emiko**_

As you lay in bed and finish a good book, you have to let your mind wander. You can't just go straight to sleep. If you read a horror book, you might start seeing things in the shadows. I for one liked to picture bunnies and laugh at the boogie man. And a drama, you might think about all of your problems. Well I sure as hell had quite a few of those things, and let me tell you I didn't want to dwell on them any longer than possible.

So what about romance? That's the book I had just finished. I thought about Zuko, as I usually did before I slept, and I wanted to kiss him right then.

Did I dare walk to his room in the middle of the night? No. It just wasn't done.

Besides, knowing my luck, a crewmember would wake him up in the morning and I would be in his arms. Who knew how far one little kiss could take someone? It had obviously taken us pretty far that afternoon. I was still shaking, wondering how I could have done that much while I hated him, and he hated me.

With a sigh and the pictures of Zuko running through my brain, I fell asleep.

But even then the Prince plagued me. I had all-too realistic dreams of us together, all-too realistic dreams of him. His lips weren't the same in my dreams, his rough, hot kisses not as amazing. During these perfect dreams, I didn't notice the slight pressure on my ankles and wrists. And it wasn't until a large, sweaty hand appeared on my mouth that I knew something was wrong.

I tried to let out a scream, but the hand muffled me.

"Now, now, Miz Emm, don't be like that," the voice whispered as breath full of alcohol brushed against me, making my stomach churn. "I only wanted a little *hiccup* fun…"

Strong legs straddled me, and finally I had some sense of what to do. I tried to move my arms to push him off of me, but I found that I was tied up to my bedposts. My legs, the same.

I tried to scream again, but nothing came out as he shoved his mouth against mine. When I tried to pull away, he placed both hands on each side of my face and forced my lips open. His tongue swathed my mouth, making me whimper in complete fright and disgust.

I was so scared…I didn't know what this man was going to do to me. What would happen? What if he actually tried to go farther than just this? I could taste the alcohol on his lips, in his mouth, and it scared the hell out of me.

"_Ahh_…" he whispered against my lips, his thumbs wiping away the tears that ran down my face. "You taste so good, Miz Emiko. What if I…?"

His hand grabbed my nightshirt and pushed it up. Then his hand grabbed my underwear and he slowly fingered it.

"I've never bedded someone like you, Emiko," he told me as his eyes bored into mine. "But now you're experienced. The Prince and you must have some fun, huh?"

I shook my head back and forth as fast as I could, not daring to clench my eyes like I wanted to. I wanted to scream out so horribly, but it would do nothing but get muffled.

I knew that it was the same man who had said those vile things to me in the mess hall. I knew it was that same, frightening man. And now he was trying to…to…

_Oh dear Spirits!_

_**Emiko**_

Zuko sighed as he laid in bed. He was in the mood for a kiss from Emiko. He hadn't got to kiss her goodnight as he had for the past few weeks. He hadn't even seen her since the hallway scene.

But did he dare go to her room in the middle of the night? Did he dare risk her fury, if she didn't want it or if he woke her up? What about the men… They would no doubt think that something else, un-honorable had happened. Not that he'd be complaining if it _did _happen. And it could end up happening, if he couldn't control himself. Her body was so beautiful, so soft, and way too tempting. He could picture himself grasping her slim hips and—

Finally he got up and decided to walk the halls, to get the images out of his head. If he just _happened_ to walk by Emiko's room, and he just _happened_ to peak into her room, who could fault him? Iroh checked up on her all the time, why couldn't he?

As he walked the cold steel hallways, he couldn't help but remember certain things. The stairs leading up to the deck where Jun had come, where she had cried to her mother. Her kitchen, where she had spent most of her time. Then the places where they had kissed…

Finally he made it to her room. He heard her whimpering, and then a slow chuckle of evil. It was male, and instantly he thought the worst and red hot fury and jealousy ran through him.

He threw open the door and took in the scene. Emiko was tied to her bedposts, her legs spread apart as the leader of his mutinous crew straddled her, his lips ferociously attacking her lips, neck, chest.

Emiko's wildly frightened eyes turned to him as soon as he had entered, though the leader—Jingo was his name, Zuko remembered fleetingly—was too preoccupied. The one word that Emiko was emanating was: _help_!

The Prince ran over to the man just as he was about to pull down Emiko's undergarments, and he grabbed his shoulder to throw him across the small room. He crashed into Emiko's wardrobe.

Then he ran over to Emiko and quickly untied her bonds. She rolled over onto her side and laid there, her eyes wide with fear and shock as she wrapped her arms around her knees.

Zuko gently pushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. That is, until Jingo jumped him. Literally. The lust-crazed man jumped on the Prince's back and started to strangle him with his strong arms. Zuko tried to get the man off, but it wouldn't happen. And even as he slowly fell to his knees from lack of oxygen, he couldn't think of anything but Emiko.

Finally, as if she had read his thoughts, she sat up and saw the scene before her. "NO!" she yelled as she pulled something from her bedside.

Her arm was raised above her head, and then she brought down her fist. Jingo let out a gasp/sigh, but nothing else was emanated. His grip loosened and he fell away from the gasping Prince.

Emiko's eyes were clouded, emotionless. She let the strangely-familiar throwing knife in her hand clatter to the ground, and she looked at her bloodied hand with a sort of detachment. A small amount of blood was splattered on her beautiful face, and the Prince noticed fleetingly that it was the same color as her eyes before they dimmed back to their normal color.

Zuko got up after a while, rubbing his neck, and he saw that Jingo wasn't even moving. And he realized that Emiko had killed that man.

When he tried to reach forwards to touch her arm, she pulled away. Her face never changed, her head only turning to the side as if he had slapped her. But he wouldn't do that.

"Emiko, what…?"

Now her attention was on him. She was glaring, but he didn't think she knew she was. Her whole body was just…there, not really alive or thinking. She stared him directly in the eyes, confusion, her head twisted to the side.

"…Captain's whore my ass."

* * *

**WHOAH! What the heck was that? Well, its a little hot and heavy, and I apologize. But you've got to see the way that Emiko shuts down when she's put into survival mode. So, that's what this chapter is all about. That, and the fact that a little bit of almost-smut is pretty nice(: **

**Anyways, here's a look at the next chapter titled, "****The Past Part VII: ****Father,"**

"He's heading north…The Northern Water Tribe. The Avatar needs to master Waterbending. He's looking for a teacher."

He turned around to address the others in the room. His officers sat in the many chairs, with a woman sitting at the very end of the table in the throne on the dais. The woman stood up and hit her fist to the table, making her pinned-up brown hair lose a few strands that hung down below her chin. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go get him, I know I'm ready!"

_She is so much like me,_ Zhao thought proudly, puffing out his chest as he looked at her. She was just about his height, but much slimmer. Her hair and eyes were the same color as his, though her face resembled a little more of her mother. Other than the planed cheeks and the high forehead, she looked much like her mother.

But she was her father's child.

"Patience, Captain Zhao," he said with a wry smile.

It was strange, calling her by a military name. But she had earned her rank in the two short years she had been in the Navy. She had automatically been a Midshipman, with his help and references, and because of her schooling and her parentage.

His daughter made an amazing leader.

"…this isn't some little Earth village we can just march into. The Water Tribe is a great Nation. There's a reason they've survived a hundred years of war. The frozen tundra is treacherous. The landscape itself is an icy fortress. We'll need a massive invasion force."

An evil, cat-like smile formed on her lips. "Well then, Admiral Zhao, I have a suggestion…"


	18. The Past: Part VI

**THREE CHAPTERS LEFT. That is all.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender. I will not bow to you, evil overloards of Viacom!**

* * *

**The Past Part VII**

**Father**

"Hey, Zuko?" came a voice from outside his cabin door. The Prince looked up from his desk and to the door, where he knew that Emiko was standing just outside. He hadn't been able to get her out of his mind.

She opened the door and slowly limped in. The accident had left her partially handicapped, but at least she could still walk. He could see her struggling to not show her pain, trying to hold herself up with whatever was near. But she would not bow to the injury. She was wearing a simple white kimono that fell off of her shoulders, making her eyes shine as she smiled nervously at him. It dipped a little low, so he tried to keep his eyes away from there. Her dark hair was pulled up into a neat bun at the nape of her neck. If only he could untie it and run his fingers through it…

He put down his pen and gently rubbed his temples. Not like he could concentrate on work anyways. Not when she assaulted his thoughts every five seconds. "Yes, Emiko?"

"I-I..."

Zuko scooted his chair back and got up, only to almost knock her to the ground. He caught a hold of her arms and pulled her against him. He could feel the blush run up her body against his bare skin. He chastised himself about not putting on a shirt and looked down on her surprised eyes, before thinking that maybe it was exactly what he neeeded.

Emiko gently disentangled herself from his arms and looked to the floor. If her hair were down, she would've hidden herself behind it. "U-um, I'm sorry I-I interrupted you. B-but…"

Something, a feeling inside, caused him to do something completely out of the question. He reached out and took her chin in his hand. He tilted her eyes up to meet his, and then gently pulled her closer with the other arm. His lips trailed down from her forehead to her neck, and he almost burned up from the contact itself, not to mention the flames inside of him. He needed his skin to touch hers. He needed to comfort her, needed to hold her close and kiss those beautiful lips.

She shivered as if he were cold, maybe from fright, but let her hands roam down his bare chest. "_Zuko_…"

Her voice whispering his name sent chills of his own up his back. He pulled his lips up from the hollow beneath her throat all the way up her neck, making her arch her head backwards. If he were a cobra hound, her jugular would've been completely open to attack.

"_Emiko__…_" he whispered against the skin of her neck. She shivered, one of her hands sliding further down his chest to rest on his stomach.

And then she did something that surprised him:

She seized his mouth in hers.

Her hands took to his neck and rested there, pulling him closer all the while controlling how he kissed, and he pulled her body against his. His breathing sped up, raced as fast as if he had almost drowned and were gasping for sweet, sweet oxygen. He could feel her heartbeat underneath her kimono, but something was off…was a heart supposed to sound like that?

He ignored it and forcefully pushed her up against the wall, letting his hands wander her slender, _soft_ body. His hand roamed down her waist, over her hip and to her knee that was sticking out of a slit in the side of her kimono skirt.

The Prince grabbed it on an impulse and pulled it up and over his hip, kissing her like he never had before. His tongue ran over her lips with fervor, her own tongue frightened as it flickered against his. She whimpered slightly, and he had to remember that perhaps she hadn't ever kissed anyone besides him. And besides the fact that this position was compromising to the "captain's whore" subject.

Yes, she had explained it after Iroh had come to the scene. Zuko never thought he had seen anyone who had been as detached from murdering another human being like Emiko had been. She hadn't said anything else than the small story of her being in the mess hall and Jingo's few remarks about her virtue. Then how he had come to be on her in the middle of the night.

But after that she had asked Iroh if she could sleep. The body had been removed from her room by that time, the blood cleaned up. And Iroh had let her go hesitantly.

When Emiko softly bit his lip to get his attention, and he growled low in his throat in response. He took her in more, forcefully turning her head to the side to take her _all_ in, his tongue twisting with hers in such a way that he wanted so much more.

She seemed to know what she was doing as she slid her tongue along his, then teasing it into his mouth. Her leg wrapped around his waist and held there, even though he could tell that she was shaking from her nervousness, and this let him rest his hand on her lower, _lower_ back, farther down than any type of father would allow. He pulled her harder against his growing erection, feeling her gasp at what she felt there. But she didn't pull away in fright, like she should have. She instead wrapped her other leg around his waist as well, and stayed there.

Zuko couldn't help himself. He had to keep kissing her. He couldn't stop. Her soft body curved against his, his mouth molding with hers, her pelvis pushed against his as he slowly slid a hand up her skirt…

Suddenly when he opened his eyes, they weren't standing up anymore. They were lying on his bed, her legs around him as he straddled her. Her body was the softest thing he'd ever touched or felt.

Her eyes were wide when she noticed this, and she squirmed underneath him.

"_Shh…_" he whispered to her as his tongue ran over her lower lip. She shivered from the pleasure, her hands running up to tangle in his hair. "_I don't want to hurt you…_"

He let their kiss become something beautiful, something of not just lust or passion, but of…of…

Her kiss was so beautiful, _she _was so beautiful. Her hands were so soft as they ran over his body. She knew just where to put them so that it was still innocent, but it still drove him crazy. He slowly lowered his hips onto hers, and she moaned in the process. He wanted to take it farther, but it would only scare her. If he was going to take her tonight, he was going to go slow.

Or he was going to try.

She leaned back with his prodding, until she was directly under his muscular frame. Her slender hands tangled into his hair, and she pulled his lips down onto hers harder, begging him to open his mouth.

He surrendered with a moan and held himself up with his arms so he wouldn't hurt her. He could feel her breasts heaving underneath him, teasing him into something more. He felt her hips gently moving against his in a slow, rhythmic movement.

For the past few moments, his tongue had been ravaging hers. He tilted his head to the side more, wanting more of her in his mouth. She opened wider without question, like she wanted what he was giving to her. Her hands roamed from his hair, down to the contours of his chest, to grasp his hips. She frantically pulled at the top button of his pants, taking deep, gasping breaths as his lips trailed down, sucking greedily on the underneath side of her jaw. The spot on her jaw from where he had bit her was still there, and he gently ran his tongue over the abrasion. She managed to make the friction from his pants greater against his erection, which in turn drove his lust wild.

In a growl of self-preservation, or more of _her_ preservation, he grabbed her wrists and pulled them above her head. She gave out a cry of pain that made his gaze go foggier and a deep growl come from his throat, his groin aching at certain prospects that ran through his mind.

He held her wrists with one hand, then moved his own hand down to caress every part of her body. She was breathing heavily and moaned when his hand touched the inside of her thigh. He played there for a moment, dancing closer to her womanhood, then skittering away, his lips gently dancing across her neck. Her hips pumped up to his, touching his enlarged groin and making him clench his thighs tighter around hers.

When the hand ran back up, it gently brushed one of her breasts. He palmed her, gently massaged it as he forced himself not to pull open her flimsy shirt. She groaned in his mouth when his callused thumb circled the hardened tip of her breast.

He used his knee to pull apart her legs, quickly nestling himself deep between her strong thighs. She gasped and leaned her head back against the pillow, allowing his lips to ravage her jaw line once more.

Suddenly she stopped moving beneath him and froze in her place. He still kept his hands on her, still kissed her jaw, neck, shoulders, chest, moved slightly between her legs…

Her hands quickly found his chest and suddenly were pushing him away. Her legs slipped down. She slid out from under his hold and stood up. She backed away towards the opposite wall, a look of indecision on her face. Then she pushed some loose strands of hair back into her bun with shaky hands and looked again to the floor, before thinking better of it.

"U-um, I came in here to ask you if you wanted t-to play the Sungi Horn for music night. I-I mean you don't have to, but…"

So that's what she had wanted. He sat up from his position on the bed and propped one knee up, resting his arm on the knee, trying to hid his almost bursting erection. "I…don't think so." His heart sank. Apparently it felt that Emiko had just come to see _him_.

Her face became downcast and she looked away, her hand running up and down her arm. "Come on, Zuko, _please_? You _never_ do music night with us." Her breathing was still shaky, still coming in hitches.

_I'd do it if it were just with you_. But he would never say that, not after what was just about to happen. He was still shocked that she hadn't said anything about it. "I know, I just don't like music."

Suddenly the old anger in her eyes was sparked. She let her arm drop and she was almost back into his face. "How can you not like music?" she asked him, throwing her long, slender arms to the sides. "Ugh, you're sexist, immature…I don't even know why I bothered asking you about this. I should've _known _your answer."

He stood up in a rush. "Damn woman, I'm trying to be civil!" he yelled at her as she almost pushed him up against the wall.

"No, you're trying to be an _assho_—!"

He grabbed her arm and pushed her back against the wall. Her soft body still tempted him, but when she acted like this he was quite turned off. Especially when she snapped her teeth like a cobra hound at him. "Your attitude is _really_ pissing me off," he growled.

At first she was surprised by his rebuff. She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it and pursed her lips to look away. Her face kept getting angrier and angrier, and he thought that she might explode from the way her face turned red.

That is, until suddenly a fist was coming straight at him.

He ducked under his arm and was surprised to see that she was ready for a pounce. _I've seen her fight before, but what in the Spirit World—_

She sent another fist forward, and it collided with his cheek. The recoil sent her into the wall and him onto his bed, holding onto the bruised cheek. She pounced on him, her legs straddled him, her cocky-ass face in his.

But to his dismay, her legs around him only sent passion through his body once more. The sensations almost hurt, because they expected more than he or she was willing to give. She was breaking through his self-defense.

"Ha, _ha_," she laughed before placing a quick kiss on his nose. "Pinned you." Then she grabbed his chin and glared into his eyes with possession. "…Remember Zuko," she whispered, "I am _always _right."

The girl smiled in victory and waltzed out the door, leaving a very confused Zuko sitting on his bed. Though dazed, he still couldn't help wondering exactly why she had acted like that, and then had such a quick change of thought.

"Emiko?" Iroh asked outside the door. "Is Zuko coming?"

Her voice told him that she was laughing on the inside and smiling on the outside. "Nope! He's not feeling too well right now. Best to leave him alone." He could even picture the cocky smile that would be on her lips.

Those full, luscious lips.

_**A few miles away...**_

It was a temple-like chamber, with a throne on a dais at one end and a space to stand at the other. Chair surrounded the table that filled up most of the room. Some sort of huge, ornately carved red statue occupied the back wall. On the table was a map of the Northern and Southern Water Tribe continents. All around were ornate pillars.

Admiral Zhao pointed at the map, right above where the Earth Kingdom would be. "He's heading north…The Northern Water Tribe. The Avatar needs to master Waterbending. He's looking for a teacher."

He turned around to address the others in the room. His officers sat in the many chairs, with a woman sitting at the very end of the table in the throne on the dais. The woman stood up and hit her fist to the table, making her pinned-up brown hair lose a few strands that hung down below her chin. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go get him, I know I'm ready!"

_She is so much like me,_ Zhao thought proudly, puffing out his chest as he looked at her. She was just about his height, but much slimmer. Her hair and eyes were the same color as his, though her face resembled a little more of her mother. Other than the planed cheeks and the high forehead, she looked much like her mother.

But she was her father's child.

"Patience, Captain Zhao," he said with a wry smile.

It was strange, calling her by a military name. But she had earned her rank in the two short years she had been in the Navy. She had automatically been a Midshipman, with his help and references, and because of her schooling and her parentage.

His daughter made an amazing leader.

"…this isn't some little Earth village we can just march into. The Water Tribe is a great Nation. There's a reason they've survived a hundred years of war. The frozen tundra is treacherous. The landscape itself is an icy fortress. We'll need a massive invasion force."

An evil, cat-like smile formed on her lips. "Well then, Admiral Zhao, I have a suggestion…"

_**Emiko**_

I knew that we were docked. I knew that I could leave, but the beautiful music surrounding me told me that I couldn't. That, and the rapidly waxing, almost new moon left me feeling the best I had since the last new moon, which had been a while back. Anyways, the music was gorgeous. Jee was playing a simple string instrument, and five of us were sitting around a campfire on the main deck. Iroh was with us. Some men were dancing, though Jee, Iroh, and I were sitting, playing our instruments. I was playing my liuqin, finally getting to that stage in playing it that I knew what I was doing.

Uncle was sitting on a bench next to me while the others danced. He was singing a song that we both knew, and I was playing with the words and other instruments. "_Winter, Spring, Summer and __Fall. Winter and Spring, Summer and Fall. Four seasons; four loves. Four seasons; four loves_."

I had always loved that song, because I really didn't love all four seasons. I knew that it sounded weird, but…I didn't. Winter practically destroyed my energy. I may have been born in Winter, but that didn't mean I had to love it. Nope. The worst things for me happened around that time. Spring and Fall were okay, but I preferred Summer, which was when I was at my most powerful. So I only loved Summer, not all four.

"Sing something for me, Emiko," Iroh said, bringing out the Sumki horn to play. I blushed and shook my head, knowing that my voice wasn't exactly perfect for singing. "Please? Sing for me?"

Oh, he was giving me those puppy-dog eyes. Darn him. I sighed and brought the liuqin up, gently starting to strum it. I didn't know what I was going to sing until it was time, but when I did it flowed out. I started singing. "_If I die young, bury me in satin, lay me down on a bed of roses. Sink me in the river at dawn, send me away with the words of a love song..._"

Iroh next to me looked very happy and sad as I glanced up at him, and by this time the others had joined in with their instruments. It didn't sound all that bad, if I did say so myself. "_Agni, make me a rainbow, I'll shine down on my mother. She'll know I'm safe with you when she stands under my colors. Oh, and life isn't always what you think it ought to be, no, isn't even gray when she buries her baby._" It continued for a while, and I had to stop, I was about to cry. I ended the short song on a chord, smiling a watery-eyed smile at Iroh, smiling at the crew, and at myself because normally I didn't sing that well. It made me happy, at least.

Which was why would would expect something to go wrong. On the last note, as if they were on some sort of cue, a group of masked Fire Nation soldiers boarded the ship. My heart started pounding faster, and I stood, ready to bolt, but Iroh grasped my arm, gently setting me back down.

Leading them was the worst person I could possibly imagine.

"Hello, father."

_**Zuko**_

Prince Zuko stood in his dark cabin on the ship. His arms were folded across his chest, and he angrily wondered why he couldn't figure that damned woman out! First Emiko kissed him, and then she just shouts at him for not playing a stupid instrument.

Her mood swung one way, then another, and..._UGH._ _Women!_

The door at the far end of the cabin opened and Iroh leaned in. The Prince didn't look at his uncle. "For the last time, I'm not playing the Sungi Horn!" he growled, wondering why Emiko thought he could play it in the first place.

"No," Uncle Iroh said quickly, stepping in. Zuko sighed and rolled his eyes, just wishing to be left alone, even from Emiko. "It's about our plans…there's a bit of a problem."

Zuko's eyes widened in surprise, especially when Admiral Zhao walked in through the door. _There's the problem right there!_ he thought bitterly, just wishing that everyone would get the point and just leave him alone.

"I'm taking your crew," Zhao said bluntly, admiring his nails as if he had just announced Sunday tea.

Zuko turned to face the retched man. "What?" How was that _possible_? Did Zhao have more money than him? Most likely, yes, but that didn't mean he could take his crew! Did he have an order from Zuko's father? Other than that, how could a man just take another man's crew?

Zhao had to explain, and he always did. "I've recruited them for a little expedition to the North Pole." _To follow the Avatar,_ were the unspoken words.

"Uncle, is that true?" Zuko asked, implying to one person in particular. He didn't want her to be hurt, let alone taken by this had to at least admit that he was getting feelings for her. And if this man thought that he was taking her...

"I'm afraid so…he's taking everyone," the old General sobbed, putting his arm over his face dejectedly. "Even Cook!"

Zuko frowned, because his uncle didn't get it. He had meant Emiko.

Zhao smiled evilly. "Sorry you won't be there to watch me capture the Avatar, but I can't have you getting in my way again."

Zuko charged at him in anger, but Iroh blocked him. Oh how he wished he had burned his smug face off when he had had the chance!

The Admiral started to move around the room, and he walked over to inspect the curved broadswords on the wall that Zuko used while he had been the Blue Spirit. Zuko felt his face paling as he recognized the danger he was in, especially when Zhao's face swelled in anger. _No…_

Zhao started practicing with the one he picked up. "I didn't know you were skilled with broadswords, Prince Zuko…"

"I'm not," Zuko lied quickly, calm even with the panic he felt. "They're antiques; just decorative." His heart was pounding a hundred miles an hour, and not in the good way like when he kissed Emiko.

Zhao thought again. "Have you heard of the Blue and Red Spirits, General Iroh?"

"Just rumors," Uncle shrugged. "But I don't think that they are real."

"They're real all right," Zhao said matter-of-factly. "The Blue Spirit is a criminal, an enemy of the Fire Nation. The Red Spirit is considered to be in cahoots with the Blue Spirit. Some kind of romantic, criminal duo. Blue male, Red female." He handed the broadsword to Iroh, and Zuko wondered if Zhao could be any more wrong about what had happened that night. "But I have a feeling that justice will catch up with _him_ soon." Zhao moved toward the exit. "General Iroh, the offer to join my mission still stands if you change your mind."

Zuko stared wide-eyed at his mentor. Why would Zhao want _him_? He was his _uncle_, for crying out loud. He'd been out of commission for years! Zuko was about to protest when a scream came from outside. It was not only frightened, but furious.

Zhao only laughed at the feminine scream, and Zuko's eyes widened when Emiko was drug into the room, tears stinging in her eyes. Her legs were killing her, the Prince could tell, but she wasn't going to give that bastard the satisfaction of seeing her cry. She gave a sniff and made the tears disappear, holding up her chin in defiance, the way that Zuko would expect her to and wanted her to.

Zuko wanted to rip Zhao's throat out right then and there.

Emiko's face was full of anger, malice, and hatred for this man. She started struggling against the two men, yelping in pain when one of them jerked her to stop. "Let me go, Zhao," she commanded him, her teeth grinding together from the pain.

Zuko moved over to her and yanked her from their arms, making her give _him_ the evil glare. Then he pulled her to him, making sure that she wouldn't hurt any more than she had to. "She is not a member of the crew, Zhao," he told the damned man as he looked at them with anger in his eyes. "She is traveling with _me_."

The Prince slowly backed away. _What does he want with you?_ he wanted to ask as he looked down into her slightly reddened face. _Why did he drag you in here_? Zuko leaned down and kissed her on the forehead, making her eyes well up. She clenched his shirt and hid her face in his chest.

Zhao shook his head and tsked, though a kind of murderous glare was now in the old man's eyes. "You didn't tell him, did you Emiko?"

Suddenly the tears were gone and her eyes were panicked when she turned her head up. Her lips parted slightly in fear, and then her entire face hardened. "And if you tell him, I'll—I'll…!"

"You'll _what_?"

Something was wrong.

She looked down and clenched her eyes shut, half-heartedly pushing away from Zuko. He sat her down unwillingly and her shoulders slumped. "_Nothing_." She walked over to Zhao and stood by his side, looking away as if she had her hands stuck in a cookie jar.

Something was _dreadfully_ wrong.

"That's what I thought."

_**Zuko**_

_This isn't how this was supposed to happen,_ I thought, feeling tears coming up but putting them away. Zuko was looking like a child who suddenly hurt himself but wasn't crying, just confused. "What is he talking about, Emiko?"

"Nothing!" I snapped, instantly feeling horrible. He would _never_ trust me if Zhao revealed our relationship right now. He would have expected me to tell him earlier, not by someone else's mouth. And if I had told him earlier, we wouldn't have ever kissed, or hugged, or _anything_, and I knew that if it hadn't happened, I still would have wanted it. But Zhao wasn't supposed to have come. He wasn't supposed to have found me.

And he wasn't supposed to tell Zuko. The Prince didn't deserve to know this way. I was the one who should've told him, sooner or later. Later, being the most opportune.

"Ooh…" Zhao was as giddy as a love-sick teenager. "Maybe _I_ should tell him."

I gritted my teeth, feeling the anxiety build up in me that I hated. I tended to black out when I became anxious, and normally something bad happened during that time. At the moment, though, I felt that I wanted to black out on Zhao. "You'll say _nothing_, Zhao!"

He looked at Zuko and ignored me. "I think that it's time that you knew…"

Zuko was growing impatient. "Knew _what_?"

Zhao shook his head. "Do you not see the resemblance?" he asked as he grabbed my chin and held it next to his face.

Hoping that Zuko hadn't noticed anything, I pulled away as quickly as I could. But, Zhao being Zhao, he grabbed me back and forced me against the wall, one arm pulled behind my back in a painful way. "Let go of me, Father!" I cried, unaware that I had even said the vile word.

Zuko's face went completely white. "W-what?"

"Oops!" Zhao exclaimed, looking between the two of us with an evil, cat-like expression. "Looks like the catakeet is out of the bag."

I slumped in defeat and half-heartedly pulled away from the man, leaning my head against the metal wall. …Who knew what Zuko thought of me now? "I'm so sorry, Zuko. I should have told you." Meanwhile, Iroh was watching with rapt attention.

"What is wrong with you, Emiko?" Zuko asked incredulously, his face set in a way that I never wanted to see again. The hurt in his voice tore at my heart, and a tear ran down my cheek. "Did you use me? Did you spy on me?"

"No!" I cried, flinging myself around in a way that made my legs scream in protest. "_Never_! Zuko, I—"

"I hate to break up this little lovers fight, but you are coming with me," Zhao interrupted, making tears stream down my face and sizzle on the metal floor, sending a light fog throughout the room. He grabbed my arm and started pulling me out the door.

"NO!" I yelled in his face, pulling away from him. He still had that evil look in his eye. "You're not taking me! I'm not going with you!"

One signal from him and I was surrounded by his men. They grabbed at me, easily blocking or dodging the weak bursts of flames I sent at them. I desperately to fight with my upper body. "_**ZUKO**_!" I yelled, being tugged out the door and down the hall.

He just stood there and turned his head, disgusted with me.

_**Later...**_

My room was small, three sets of metal bars over the windows. And if I did somehow manage to escape from them, there was a thirty-foot drop to the water below. Two guards were stationed outside my door at all times, and if I went to the bathroom, they were outside the door there, too. The room itself had one, small quilted bed, a small vanity, and a closet to keep my few sets of clothes.

_Zuko..._ I thought with a sob. I'd left him standing there, without apologies, without answers. My concience was killing me. First of all, I should have told him sooner. He may have hated me for the rest of my journey, but he wouldn't have had to find out from Zhao. I knew that now. And, with Zhao being my father, Iroh couldn't have kept me with him. Besides, they didn't have a crew anymore.

Suddenly the ship rocked in the water, which was unusual because we were docked. I sat up from my pity party and looked out the window, seeing smoke, ash, and flame shoot up in the air. At first I didn't think anything of it, and I laid back down. But then I started thinking...and I calculated the distance. "No…" is said quietly, pressing both of my hands on the cold glass. "_No_…"

That cocky smile would be on my father's face, I knew it. He would have watched the whole thing himself if he could have, I was sure. He had gotten men to do it. He hired someone. Maybe Jasmine, or now as she was called, _Captain Zhao_.

But then the whole of the problem hit me. _Zuko…Zuko was in the ship_._ That was at the dock. That was where the explosion was_.

My heart was ripped out of my chest. It was torn into small pieces, pounded, destroyed, and I couldn't breathe. My throat was tight, my eyes burned, and my chest hurt from where my heart was being destroyed. "No... _NO_!"

The men outside my room ran in and stared, watching as I fell from my bed. I turned and tried to run out the door, to help him, to find him, to see him one last time. They started restraining me. Fire was spurting from my hands, from my feet, from my mouth. My bed caught on fire, and suddenly more men were running in. One of them took off his jacket and started beating the fire, to his dismay that it wouldn't go away.

Suddenly my father ran in. "What in Koh's name is going on in here?" he shouted, taking in the scene. He looked out my window to the smoke at the dock, then down at my panicked eyes. Then he reached into his back pocket and pulled out something. At first I didn't know what it was, but then I figured it out: it was a syringe. He pulled it back and forcefully stuck it into the back of my neck, pushing down on whatever that little button was on the back of it to push the liquid into my body.

The effect was instant. My body seemed to become jelly, and I fell to the floor. Two men came to me and grabbed both of my arms to lift me up. My head drooped between my shoulder blades, tears running down my face as my vision slowly turned black.

"What did you _do_ to her, Sir?" one of the men holding me asked as they drug me away to the bed that was no longer on fire.

"When she was younger she had panic attacks and would Firebend everywhere. Her mother did, too, but not as much as she did when she was younger." Zhao turned his face away, emotionless. "It knocks her out until her nerves are back to normal."

I groaned as they laid me down on the bed, and then everything went black.

_**Later...**_

Uncle poured tea. Iroh, Zhao, and I were having it. Uncle and Zhao opposite each other, while I was sitting next to my father. I hadn't said anything yet, and I wouldn't. I refused to show my father any more emotion, any more fury to show him that he got to me. Even though I was still torn apart by the loss of Zuko, I wouldn't show him anything. He didn't deserve it. And I didn't think that I could stand any more of that medicine. I don't know where Zhao got it, but he'd been lying about the child thing; I'd never had that medicine before. My head was pounding, and my muscles still hurt from whatever the medicine had done to my nerves.

"I'm devastated to hear about Prince Zuko," Zhao said with false emotion, in such a way that I felt ready to have another _panic attack_ as he called it. But I saw the syringe sticking out of his sash and knew better than to act up. "Just _devastated_."

_Just devastated_, I thought bitterly, knowing that it was my father who killed him. Maybe not directly, but he was probably the one who paid for it to happen. My eyes burned, and I forced the tears away.

Iroh opened his eyes, and I noticed that they were red, as if he, too, were trying to keep from crying. Iroh thought of Zuko as a son. "The Fire Lord will not be pleased he learns who was responsible."

Zhao frowned. _Oh, is this a problem in your plan? I'm sorry, I didn't know you cared._ "You know who was behind the attack?" he asked, his eyebrow raised.

_You_, I thought. But I didn't dare say this aloud.

"Yes," the old man said, slamming the table with his fist. "Pirates!"

"Pirates, Uncle?" I asked, those being the first two words I had said the whole time. Zhao looked at me severely, and I corrected myself. "I'm sorry. Pirates, General Iroh?"

"We had a run in with them awhile back." He shook his head. Whether it was at me calling him Iroh or at the Pirates, I didn't know. "The Prince…he said some things. They were very protective of you, Miss Zhao," he said to me softly. "And you remember that the Prince was very stressed at that moment. They created a rivalry."

Zhao's frown turned to a smile.

"They wanted revenge."

Zhao took a sip of tea. "So, have you reconsidered my offer?" he asked, referring to both of us. I flinched, not wanting to answer.

"Yes," Iroh said as he bowed his head and sat his tea down so he could hold himself the right, respectable way. "I accept. It will be an honor to serve as your General."

Zhao turned to me. "Emiko?"

I pulled my face up to make myself more presentable. If Iroh didn't know what really happened, then some day I would tell him. Until that day, I would stay near him no matter what. "Yes, Father. I will command the Privates and teach the newer recruits. I will serve humbly by your side as your youngest daughter."

Uncle nodded to me and raised his glass in a toast. "To the Fire Nation!"

Zhao raised his glass as well. "To victory!"

I raised my glass weakly, ignoring the prick of tears in my eyes that threatened to be more. "…Long live the Fire Lord."

* * *

**Buahaha. I'm so evil. Lover's quarrel, anyone?**

**Anyways, here's a look at the next chapter, appropriately titled "Sisterly Love,"**

"_No."_

He was having a hard time getting it out. He seemed...I don't know..._fatherly_. Protective and hesitant. "Out of all of the men on any of my ships, I think I have found the best man for you…"

"_No_," I told him with more ferocity. I wasn't going to be married. Koh, I couldn't even _look_ at another man without seeing some part of Zuko there. His hair, his eyes...it was all too much to bear.

"He's young; a Captain in the Navy; very strong and handsome too."

"Koh, I said _no_!" I shouted, turning my back to him and grasping the railing of the ship, peering down to the water, wondering if a fall from that level could kill me right then and there. I had to remind myself that I was afraid of water, though, and took a deep breath to calm myself.

He said the next words as if he were pulling off a band-aid. "I want you to marry Isamu."


	19. Sisterly Love

**In this chapter, we finally meet the eluded "Captain Zhao." You'll see why Emiko doesn't like her: she's exactly like Zhao! Like father like daughter, I suppose.**

**ONE CHAPTER (plus an epilgoue) LEFT!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender. Ty lee would be my BEST friend!**

* * *

**Sisterly Love**

His ship was spectacular, I had to admit. Though it was grudgingly. He had at least two hundred men on this ship alone, and then I knew that he had an entire armada waiting somewhere in the midst. I had no idea what his plan was, but an attack on the Water Tribe was a large deal.

I was following behind him at least five steps, looking at the unfamiliar walls, the Fire Nation banners, the soldiers patrolling the hallways. They would nod to me, and I would nod back. It was a sad day, they knew, when I was captured. It meant that their boss, "Daddy," would be even more harsh on them, because he had been the one to capture me, not them. Poor soldiers. They didn't deserve to be punished because of me.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when Zhao suddenly stopped in front of me, and I blushed when he looked down onto me with scolding eyes. He then stepped forwards into a hall full of Privates, and they slowly, inefficiently, made themselves into a somewhat-straight line. Half of them looked bored, a quarter scared, and the rest of them looked too dumb for their own good. Perhaps he had given me the double D's.*

He cleared his throat, and the few who were talking decided to stop. I knew that, if there was to be a battle, these would be the first to be sent out. I was determined to have them better than everyone figured they would be. But with the way my father was looking at me, with some shame, some pride, and something else, you could tell that I was his daughter, which wouldn't help me with these men. They probably already thought that I would be a pushover.

"Soldiers!" Zhao called in that harsh voice that made you pay attention. "You are under new management." Some murmurs went through the crowd, but they quickly stopped when the glare my father sent them set in. " Your reigning officer is of my blood, and I expect you to treat them with the respect you give me."

The line of soldiers tightened. "Yes Sir!" they cried, but not in unison.

I sighed, not wanting to be here, not wanting to teach these idiots. It was like Fourth Year at the Academy all over again. But my father nudged me, so I had to step forwards. I sighed again. "You will address me as Ma'am and Ma'am only," I said sternly, almost in a bored tone, as a soldier in the front row laughed. "Do you have a problem with that _soldier_?" I stood in front of him and looked up into his eyes with the sternest expression I could manage. He didn't answer, though his face tightened. "I said…do you have a _problem_ with that?"

"N-n-no Ma'am," he finally got out.

I leaned closer into his face. "_Do I make myself clear_?"

"Y-yes Ma'am."

I stepped back. "Some of you think that this will be an easy ride," I said as I turned to them. "I'm here to tell you that I'm going to knock the dogshit out of you. I can already tell that none of you are..._knowledgeable _in any field. I'm going to change that." They weren't paying attention. "If I were to say that we were going to have a Koh Week, what would you say back to me?"

The men mumbled.

I didn't blame them for being angry for being taught by a woman, a very short woman who was the daughter of their commanding officer, but now _I_ was their commanding officer and they needed to treat me as such. "I can't HEAR YOU. I am now your commanding officer. You do not have to like it, but you will LIVE." I knew that they would understand what Koh Week was soon enough, and said, DO YOU WANT TO WIN THIS WAR?"

"YES MA'AM!"

Zhao nudged me and smiled. "I'll leave this to you."

I smiled back. "And I'll take it from here," I whispered. Then I turned back to the men grudgingly, not really wanting to do it but knowing that I had to. "Formation number one!" I yelled, hoping that they would at _least_ know what it was. "Now! GO, GO, GO!"

…_**?**_

"Our plan is working perfectly. Zhao doesn't suspect a thing."

"You didn't have to do this."

"No nephew of mine is going to stow away on a ship without some backup!"

"Thank you, Uncle."

"Someone's coming! Stay hidden until we get to the North Pole and the Avatar will be yours! Good luck!"

Uncle walked off while Zuko stood and heard a door close…guards saying hello…and Emiko's sweet voice coming from in front of him. He stayed in the shadows, away from the guard's sight, and listened in. He then heard a woman's voice coming from the door to her room.

"I need to speak with Emiko."

"Verification?" the guard asked, holding out his hand.

"You know who I am, you idiot!"

"Y-yes ma'am!"

The door opened and a gasp escaped from the door before it closed.

_**Emiko**_

"What are you doing here, Jasmine?" I asked, exhausted. I'd been training the Double D's for hours on end, until finally three of them had thrown up from exhaustion. I'd done most of the exercise with them, to show them that I could, and I was sore, irritable, and wasn't ready for her _crap_.

"Aww…" she sighed, mocking disappointment. Those harsh yellow eyes were something like our father's, but for some reason, hers were hard and calculating, ready to kill, ready to pounce at any moment. "Can't I see my little sister and have a humane conversation with her?"

"No," I told her icily, wishing I could do something with her horrible, thick brown hair. It wasn't like mine, it was almost the exact course hair of our father. "With you, _no_ one can have a humane conversation."

She frowned, which made her look _exactly_ like him. And then she changed the subject. "Why were you crying over becoming the trainer for the Privates?"

"I wasn't crying. And even if I was, it wouldn't be over becoming the trainer. They're all idiots anyways." I dropped my head onto the pillow and mumbled profanities into it, wishing that she would just leave me alone. Jasmine and I had never gotten along anyways, even as kids, so why would we _now_? She wanted something, and I didn't know what it was. I didn't know if I _wanted_ to know what it was.

"Emiko, Emiko, Emiko…" my sister sighed, shaking her head, walking around me slowly. Her hand gently trailed along my back, making me shudder in disgust; now she was treating me like a baby, even though she was barely two years older than me. "You're not upset because of what happened to that banished wannabe, are you?"

"No," I growled too quickly, my head jolting up.

She laughed, coldly, those eyes calculating every feature on my face. "This is so sad…" she giggled as she wiped a tear from her eye. "I can't believe that you fell for him."

"I didn't! I mean I…of course I couldn't…well I…" When I couldn't form a sentence, I sighed. Maybe she was right. Maybe I had fallen for him, and now he was gone and I couldn't tell him.

She frowned, now looking at me with something I'd never seen in her eyes. "You didn't sleep with him, did you?"

Oh, joy. My sister now had sisterly protectiveness. "No."

"You aren't lying, are you?"

"Why would I have reason to lie about it?" I sighed, finally deciding to sit up. I held my pillow to my stomach, looking my sister in her cold, deathly eyes. "Even if I _did_ sleep with him?"

"Oh, Agni, you did."

"_No_, I _didn't_!" I shouted, mopping my face with my hand and leaning my head back against the wall next to my bed. "I was speaking hypothetically."

"Well..." She looked hesitant to say it, so I glared at her. "You could be pregnant with heir to the Fire Nation throne, is all." The unspoken words were: _And father would have even more reason to be happy! He'd be father in law to the Fire Lord! Oh, after he killed you for betraying him, anyways._

I'd really never thought of pregnancy, but it was a good thing I'd never slept with him. "I didn't sleep with Zuko."

"Oh, so its _Zuko_ now?"

I threw my hands up in the air and fell back to my bed, tired of arguing with her. "I can't _win_ with you! I don't know why I even _try_ getting you to believe me." I covered my pillow with my face and tried to ignore her.

"_Pathetic." _I finally heard, and she was saying it as she frowned at the vanity mirror, looking at me through the reflection.

I knew that she expected me to answer, so I sighed and sat up, looking at her pointedly. "_What_?"

"It's pathetic that you could fall for the Banished Prince." That, of course, set me on edge. I felt my jaw clamping down so hard that my teeth could have been welded together. "But of course, you're almost exactly like him. The child of a powerful man, who was sent away, an outcast...it fits you both."

I ground my teeth together to keep from starting a rage again. I didn't care how much she talked to me, but talking about _him_ that way? I still couldn't get over the fact that he wasn't there, wasn't a part of my life anymore. "_Don't talk about him like that_."

"Or what? You'll bring out your _dangerous_ white fire and burn me?" she asked with a taunting tone to her voice, narrowing her thin brown eyebrows in a way that she knew would infuriate me. "I highly doubt that."

"Get out."

"This isn't your ship."

"Get _out_!"

She put up her hands in a fake surrender. "Whatever you say, little sis…whatever you say."

When she left, I felt the urge to go for a walk. It was either that or killing the person guarding my door, and I had a hard time deciding between the two. But, I knocked on the door and asked one of the guards' permission. (Not to kill him, idiots.) They looked at each other, unsure, but I persuaded them.

After a while walking, I had to go to the bathroom, so they stopped a random guard in the hall and told him to escort me to the bathroom and back to my room.

The guard did as told. He escorted me to the bathroom. When I got out, he had a message waiting in his hand.

"What's this?" I asked, instantly feeling dread build up inside of me. He just nodded and pushed the note closer to me. I took it and put it in my pocket. He led me back to my room and bowed before handing me over to the other guards.

I closed the door behind me and opened the note.

_**Meeting Place: Canoe Dock  
****Time: 11 PM  
****Come Alone**_

I cocked my head and put the note down. This could be a kidnap scheme, (which I would be thankful for) or it could be a soldier who liked me and wanted to get me alone…_consequences, consequences..._

I hoped that it was someone who wanted to kidnap me and decided to go.

And anyways, it was about that time that guards came into my room and told me that Zhao wanted me on deck. I sighed, straightened my armor (which wasn't really made to fit me, but it had to do if I was to work with the Privates,) and followed the reluctant men out to my father.

It was a cold, cloudless night outside in the crisp air, and I shuddered from the slight twinge of cold that my skin felt. He was waiting at the prow, and I cautiously stepped behind him. "What do you want?" I asked him, feeling slightly irritable, not only from this and my sister, but from having been up for over sixteen hours. "I have to get ready for in the morning."

Zhao actually looked surprised as he allowed the men to leave. "Do you think I'm going to let my youngest daughter go out onto the battlefield?" he asked me incredulously.

I sighed and nodded my head. "Yes, I would expect you to." _I would rather die than stay on this ship one moment longer…_

He laughed, as if it were the funniest thing he'd heard all day. I, on the other hand, knew that he was just putting on a show for the soldiers around us. "You never stop amazing me...but," he said, clearing his voice, "we must get onto more pressing issues."

I instantly knew what he meant, and my heart froze where it was. _"No."_

He was having a hard time getting it out. He seemed...I don't know..._fatherly_. Protective and hesitant. "Out of all of the men on any of my ships, I think I have found the best man for you…"

"_No_," I told him with more ferocity. I wasn't going to be married. Koh, I couldn't even look at another man without seeing some part of Zuko there. His hair, his eyes...it was all too much to bear.

"He's young; a Captain in the Navy; very strong and handsome too."

"Koh, I said _no_!" I shouted, turning my back to him and grasping the railing of the ship, peering down to the water, wondering if a fall from that level could kill me right then and there. I had to remind myself that I was afraid of water, though, and took a deep breath to calm myself.

He said the next words as if he were pulling off a band-aid. "I want you to marry Isamu."

I froze once more, though this time it was everything: my vocal cords, my legs, even my brain. Slowly, all feeling came back and I looked him straight in the eyes. "No, seriously. Just tell me for the heck of it." He had to be kidding. I'd known that man for years; he couldn't mean the man I was thinking.

He sighed and waved his hand, signaling someone far away. And then up walked that damned Captain, looking everywhere but me. He was dressed in his best Navy uniform. I stared as he gave my father a red _betrothal necklace_. "Admiral Zhao…I'm asking permission to marry your daughter."

I felt the blood rush to my head. "Where in Agni's name did I tell you that I wanted to be _married_?" I shouted, losing my touch on reality. Profanities were strung from my words, and they ignored me, but I thought I saw Isamu flinch.

My father accepted the necklace with a small twinge of defeat in his eyes. "Treat her well, Captain Isamu. She will be a good wife."

"This can't be _happening_!"

"I will, Admiral. And I'm sure that she will be as well," Isamu said. He then turned and smiled at me.

Zhao walked over to me and put the necklace onto my neck. For some reason, I couldn't stop him. My entire body was frozen, I couldn't even lift my arm to swat his hand away. I was making a spectacle out on the deck, and it was exactly what my father had wanted from me, so that all of the crew could see that the daughter of Admiral Zhao was now engaged to one Captain Isamu.

Isamu kissed me on the cheek and they both left me standing there, frozen solid on the deck.

* * *

**You probably all hate me right now. I left you with _that_ much of a hanging? Poor Emiko, thinking that Zuko is dead. We all know different, but she doesn't. So anyways, only two chapters left in Part I! You're excited, admit it(;**

***Double D's: Dumb as Dogshit. The idiots in a group, mostly used as a military term. (I apologize if I offend anyone. It was the only term I could think of using.)**

**Anyways, here's a look at the next chapter, "A Supposedly Happily Ever After:"**

_You don't deserve him,_ my brain chided. _He really was good to you. Even through the yelling, and the cold shoulders, and the irritation, you know that anyone else would have instantly thrown you out._

A hand suddenly touched my shoulder, but I didn't care. _Who cares if someone has found me? _I thought, sobbing even harder._ I don't deserve him, right?_

"Emiko?"

My heart stopped, but I couldn't hope. The warm hand…the husky voice… "Zuko?" I asked as I turned my head around. I saw familiar yellow eyes, a bruised and scarred face, but an unharmed, completely real Zuko. It wasn't my brain making things up, he was actually here, actually real. _"Zuko."_ I ran up into his arms, holding him close. I told myself that I would never let him go again. The emotions riling through me jolted everything that I had ever believed in. My heart felt like it was melting, and I didn't think the tears would ever go away.


	20. A Supposedly Happily Every After

**Besides an Epilogue, this is the last chapter, folks. (In Part I, don't be sad!) and I'm going to be posting the second part up soon! I'm going to create a separate story, titled, "Revelations of the Daughter of the Sun." This chapter alone is 9,030 words, by the way(:**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender. First off, it never would have ended.**

* * *

**A Supposedly Happily Every After**

At 10:30, I told my guards that I was going to sleep, burned the note so no one knew where I was going, and climbed out the back window. Not that it was difficult to melt the bars. My powers had increased, so it wasn't all that difficult. Not a single guard looked at me. And even if they did, no one would dare say another word when I got through with them.

It was chilly to my desensitized skin, and I pulled my cloak around my body tighter. The thought of Zuko penetrated the wall I'd built up, and I started feeling sorry for myself, for him, and for everything I thought that we couldn't been.

_No,_ I sighed in my head, wondering if I would ever be able to forgive myself for betraying him._ Don't think about him._

When I got to the dock, no one was there. I sat at the edge of the walkway and swung my feet over the edge. That made me start thinking—something I tried to avoid.—about the previous thought that still wouldn't go away.

"What if I would've been there? What if I could've saved him? What if I…?" and I sighed. "I would've died too," I told myself as I wrapped my arms around my legs and sat my chin on my knees. "I'm sorry Zuko…I betrayed your trust…you took me in…cared for me…and saved my _damn life _too many times." I put my head down in my arms and started crying.

_You don't deserve him,_ my brain chided. _He really was good to you. Even through the yelling, and the cold shoulders, and the irritation, you know that anyone else would have instantly thrown you out._

A hand suddenly touched my shoulder, but I didn't care. _Who cares if someone has found me? _I thought, sobbing even harder._ I don't deserve him, right?_

"Emiko?"

My heart stopped, but I couldn't hope. The warm hand…the husky voice… "Zuko?" I asked as I turned my head around. I saw familiar yellow eyes, a bruised and scarred face, but an unharmed, completely real Zuko. It wasn't my brain making things up, he was actually here, actually real. _"Zuko."_ I ran up into his arms, holding him close. I told myself that I would never let him go again. The emotions riling through me jolted everything that I had ever believed in. My heart felt like it was melting, and I didn't think the tears would ever go away.

He stroked my hair and kissed the top of my head while holding me up; my legs had been shaking so badly that it felt as if I would fall. "Shh…it's not your fault…" he whispered to me, his hands gently calming me, keeping me sane, holding me in his world for just a little while longer. It felt like this was just a dream, and that he would disappear any moment.

It was then that I remembered that I didn't deserve him, that I had betrayed him. I pulled away from him, still sobbing, looking to my feet. _I don't deserve him._ That thought plagued me. The fact that I had betrayed him was the worst thing that I could have ever done.

Putting his finger under my chin, he lifted it up to meet his gaze. His were the same topaz I remembered, and I wanted to kiss each eyelid, to hold him even closer than I possibly could. The words I saw in his eyes comforted me, and I knew that he didn't blame me anymore for my betrayal.

I leaned up, standing up on my tiptoes so that we were closer to the same height, slowly moved toward him, and brushed my lips against his. I figured that he would treat me as if I were some disgusting creature and push me away, yell at me for betraying him. But he didn't. It still felt like he didn't want it, so I started to pull back, feeling agony forming inside of me. Before I got too far away, though, he grabbed my face and pulled it back up to his in an unbreakable kiss. First I was surprised, but after a second I wrapped my arms around the back of his neck and suctioned my body to his again. His tongue pushed into my mouth, overpowering mine in a way that made my knees want to collapse. I would pull back for air, but he'd just push his lips to mine again and pull me back into the passionate kiss. I felt something inside me just then, ready to boil out.

_This_ was a real kiss. Not one induced by alcohol. Not one hallucinated by pain. Not one formed on lust. And _definitely_ not one formed because of a lie towards an amnesiac. But it wasn't one of confusion. We kissed as if we had been long-time lovers that had been separated for over a lifetime. The others may have been what I thought were real kisses, but this is what I knew now, and this is what I would keep in my heart.

He pulled away, slowly, his breath heaving, but didn't let go of my back. Instead he pulled me into a hug and I cried on his shoulder again. "Zuko…I'm sorry…I should've told you…"

"Shh…" he comforted, his arms around me in a protective cage. He started kissing my neck, jaw, and shoulder. Goosebumps rose in all of the places he kissed, my womb clenched, and butterflies riled in my stomach.

We stood in the same place for not long enough until I pulled back and gave his lips another soft kiss. They lingered, trying to go back into the passion but knowing better. "Where are you going?" I asked quietly as I looked toward the canoe.

"To capture the Avatar." His hand massaged the silky skin of the nape of my neck, slowly pulling me closer to gently nibble on my lower lip. The feelings inside of me shivered and clenched, released and melted.

I looked down to the ground dejectedly when he pulled away once more. "D-do you have to?"

He kissed my neck again, his lips mumbling on my skin. "You know the answer to that." His breath made me shiver, making a part of me want to do more than give him a kiss. But just then, all I wanted to do was stay in his arms. "Emiko..."

But why was I acting like this? Because when he left, a piece of me was gone too? Or was I doing it because I felt like I owed him? Maybe, just maybe, it was something more. His hands gently moved up and down my sides, his thumbs gently pushing up the hem of my shirt. I felt the pads of his thumbs gently massaging my hipbones. He gently pushed his hips into mine, making those feelings of expanding condense in my womb. He slowly moved against me, pushing me back against the wall. The words that he murmured in my ear next made me melt in place.

"_Let me make love to you._"

I wanted him to. Oh, I did. It occurred to me that I could let him do whatever he wanted to me, to let him just take me, but I knew that I couldn't be like that. I knew that there was one problem, and that problem would keep us apart forever.

I choked on a sob and pulled back, shaking my head and covering my tear-stained face with my hands. "What's wrong?" he asked me, genuine concern in his tone. He brushed back a piece of hair from my forehead and let his hand caress my cheek in the same motion.

"I shouldn't be here…" But oh, I wanted to be with him.

"Why not?"

Not even thinking anything through, I pulled down the collar that hid the necklace Isamu gave me, knowing that the small necklace alone would tear us apart. Zuko's eyes widened as tears welled in my eyes, and…I knew once more that I had betrayed him. "I don't know if I can get out of this one, Zuko." My eyes clenched shut and I let out a small sob.

He shook his head, and his face looked as if a hard, cold, steel door had shut down on his emotions. "You can't," he told me, holding my body away from his in what I thought, at the time, was disgust. "I wish you a happy ending, Emiko."

I pushed away from him in anger. Some part of me had hoped that he would understand, would see through my forced engagement. But he hadn't. "Isamu isn't my happy ending!" I yelled at him, fists clenched, eyes stinging, throat tight. "I don't want to teach Privates to control their tongues, or teach grown men tactics that_ I_ can barely remember!"

He put his hand over his face dejectedly, and he wouldn't look at me. "You can't do anything about it. You're going to be married whether I want you to or not."

"_Whether _you_ want me to or not?_" I asked him, stopping in my fury, my glare piercing through his bright, golden eyes. "This has nothing to do with you, Zuko!"

And I instantly regretted it.

"I see what you mean," he mumbled dejectedly before he looked away.

I ran into his arms and pounded on his chest with my fists. _Anything_ to make the pain in his eyes, the pain I was feeling, go away. "That's not what I meant, you idiot!" I yelled with tears in my clenched eyes. "Please…_please don't go!_"

He wouldn't even look at me. "I'm sorry, Emiko. I have to."

"No!" I shouted, sobbing, my hits turning into barely nothing. "You could stay on the ship and hide until the raid is over, Zuko. I could throw away the necklace and I…I could…!"

Zuko grabbed my arms roughly and looked into my panicked, horrified eyes with his emotionless ones. "No," he told me pointedly, giving me one last shake to prove his point. "You can't…_I_ can't"

"You have to!" I yelled with tears rolling down my cheeks. I'd never felt such emotion, not since...well, not since a long time ago. "_I_ have to! I don't love Isamu! I _hate_ him!"

He just shook his head. "I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do."

I fell down to my knees and hit the wall next to me, leaving dents in the cold metal where my fists impacted. "THIS—IS—SO—_WRONG_!"

Zuko rushed over to me and held my hands tightly by my sides, and the look on his face made me wonder if I was exactly sane. "Be quiet or we'll be _caught_!"

I closed my eyes and took staggered breaths, leaning my head on his chest, feeling my body wrack in sobs "Plea…p-please…just tell me… just tell me one thing."

He let go of my hands. His eyes were wary, as if he no longer trusted me or my emotions. "That depends."

I took a deep breath to keep my voice from cracking. All of the emotion, all of the anxiety and pain and fear was getting to me, and I felt my body shutting down. "…You have to stay alive, with or without me."

He looked at me, his eyes incredulous. "Why do you care if I live or not?"

I pounded on his chest one more time, wishing he knew my feelings for him. "You dumb ass! Just don't _go_…!" My voice failed me and cracked on the last word as my sentence died off.

Zuko held my hands in place on his chest. "I'm going."

The tears in my eyes said it all, but I said it out loud anyways. "Then promise me I'll see you again."

He closed his yellow irises as if fighting with himself on the inside. "I can't promise that."

_I knew it. It's over. _"Then…then just promise the first thing I said." _Promise me that you'll live! _"Don't do anything stupid, or anything that will cost you your life. When I saw your ship explode, I thought that I would never see you again, and—"

"That…" he said slowly, cupping my face in his hands, "I can promise…for you." Perhaps it was just to shut me up, but it worked anyways. He pulled me closer and gently touched his lips to mine, kissing me in a slow, passionate fervor. I didn't like the edge it had in it, as if this _would_ be the last time I saw him, as if I would never see him again.

The thoughts kept coming, but I ignored them and wrapped my arms around his neck and pushed him up, further against the wall and tried to never let him leave. I was on my knees, him sitting on the cold metal as my legs tightened around his strong thighs. It gave me a shiver of fear to know that at one time I had almost gone too far, with him in between my legs. We would've done…

I stopped myself. This was a time to convince him of what I felt, not to feel bad for what had almost happened.

After that, I could've stayed there forever in his arms, letting him kiss me, me kissing back… His tongue slid slowly into my mouth, gently caressing mine as he pushed his hand up and under my short night slip, holding my pelvis to his waist. I had to bend over to kiss him, and it seemed strange, but I loved the position. I got as close as I wanted, but not close enough to want more.

His hands roamed my body, making him moan low in his throat. They went around my waist, over the curve of my butt, down my thighs. I shivered from his touch, but his mouth was all that I was concentrating on.

Finally I knew what to say. It hit me like a wrecking ball, like a catapult's boulder. I mumbled against his lips, "Zuko…I…"

"I'm sorry too," he said, unwrapping my arms stiffly and placing them by my side before he got up. He went over to where the canoe lowered into the water and prepared it. I turned my back and sat in the corner, not wanting to watch him leave, but not wanting to leave him.

When the door opened, I didn't even care if I was found out, I only cared about Zuko being captured. But it was Uncle. He opened the door and entered into the nearly full moon's light. "If you're fishing for an octopus, my nephew, you need a tightly woven net or he will squeeze through the tiniest hole and escape."

"I don't need your wisdom right now, Uncle."

"I'm sorry," Uncle said, looking down. I wondered if Zuko ever listed to Uncle's proverbs, or if he just ignored all of them. "I just nag you because, well, ever since I lost my son…"

He looked away.

His nephew's eyes were filled with compassion. "Uncle, you don't have to say it…"

"…I think of you as my own."

Zuko turned to him, a genuine look of concern and understanding on his face. "I know, Uncle," he said as he bowed and saluted him with his arm over his chest. "We'll meet again."

Uncle rushed forward and gave him a bear hug, which was exactly what I wanted to do. I stood up, moving to go up to them.

After Uncle released him, Zuko walked over to the canoe, not meeting my eyes. "…_After_ I capture the Avatar."

He was about to step into the boat, and I felt a stabbing sensation in my heart. It was partially a gut feeling, as well as a pang to my spirit. It hurt so much that I doubled over, grasping my gut and chest. "Zuko…" I groaned weakly, fog covering my eyes as some kind of premonition appeared in my mind.

The connection was weak. But still, I saw some kind of pond. Next to it, quite a few figures, but two sitting on the ground, one bright one in the other dark one's arms. The light one disappeared, then reappeared in the air.

One of the people came from the background, then disappeared into the pond. The next thing I knew, the pond became a gigantic blue monster that was soon standing over a bridge. Bright fire was being thrown by two people, only before the monster grabbed one and pulled it under.

I had a horrible feeling that I knew who the person was.

Uncle looked astonished that I was there, but he quickly got over that and looked at me with concern. Somehow I knew that Zuko being alive was a secret. I knew a lot of things that day, but _how _is what I _didn't _know. "Emiko?"

"Emiko!" Zuko cried as he caught my shoulders and steadied me.

I held my head, trying not to double over again. "I… I…"

"What's wrong?" he asked, holding me as if he had known me forever, as if he _weren't_ just about to walk out of my life.

I took a deep breath. "You're seal-bull shit if you think you're going to go."

"I already told you that I have to," he reminded me, a grimace appearing on his face most likely because of my language. Or my arguing. It could've been both.

"No," I said, my breath zapping back into my body. My heart was racing a mile an hour, and I pushed away from him and sat down on the ground. I crossed my arms across my chest and felt like I was protesting some kind of animal abuse instead of arguing with Zuko about his leaving. "You told me that you have to find the _Avatar_. You _aren't_ going, because you _aren't_ going to be careful."

"I already told you that I would." His eyes were judging, if not at all annoyed. But soon they softened and he leaned down, gently touching his lips to mine and parting them slowly, savoring my taste, letting his tongue tickle the edge of my lips. "I _promised_…" Then his tongue slid to touch mine once more, and his hands appeared on my face and he was taking me in as fully as he could.

It was a savage kiss, where he slanted his mouth over mine again and again in an animal-like attack. I had never felt this from him before, and for some reason I knew I'd feel it again. But…it almost _hurt_.

I pushed away from the breathtaking kiss and stood up, ignoring the pounding in my lips. Next to us, Uncle was standing with confusion, his eyes wide and startled but a little bit unsurprised as well.

"Damn your promise," I scowled, putting my hands on the Prince's shoulders and shaking him. "From what I feel in my gut, you're going to get hurt. And I can't have the guy who I owe my life to multiple times die before I can repay him." My words came out in a rush, and I knew that I was just making excuses.

"I'm not going to die," he scowled back, grabbing my wrists and putting them to my sides.

I glowered as I looked away and gritted my teeth. _No. I just know that he's going to be hurt. Why won't he __**listen **__to me? Why doesn't he ever? I've always known that I've had some kind of pre-sense of things that are going to happen, but now…who was that in the premonition? Was it Zuko, or was it just a fight of what's to come. No, no, I know it's him…but __**damn it**__…_

Then, before I knew it, he was already in the boat and lowering himself into the water. "Zuko, no!" I cried, trying to claw over the edge.

Uncle grabbed my shoulders and restrained me. "Remember your Breath of Fire! It could save your life out there!"

"I will," Zuko said, patiently.

"Damn you, Zuko!"

He didn't seem to respond to me as Iroh looked over the edge. "And put your hood up, keep your ears warm!" Uncle reminded, calmly holding me back.

Zuko was now far below. "I'll be fine."

I pulled out of Uncle's arms and looked over the edge. So many things that I wanted to say, like, _"Don't get killed by a giant blue monster!" or, "Make sure you keep your head above water if you accidentally fall into a off a bridge by a big glowing hand!"_ but I could only say so much. Well, so much that made sense, anyways. Finally, I settled with, "Be safe…"

He looked up to me with pain-filled eyes. "I promise."

Iroh was worried as he watched his nephew depart.

"Damn your promises…" I mumbled, getting up to walk over to the door. I opened it and slammed it behind me, leaving Uncle alone.

_**Later...**_

I woke with a small, choked scream, wondering if what I had seen was real or not, wondering if the past night had really happened. It would be like my brain to trick me like that, to be cruel. If what had really happened was what had happened last night, then I was happy and sad at the same time.

I felt strong hands gently caress my shoulders and my back, and some small part of me hoped that this man would be Zuko, but I knew it wasn't. Zuko's hands were wider, manlier, while this man had long, thin fingers and soft palms. "Its okay, Emiko," he said softly, moving me somehow to where I was sitting on his lap. "It was just a dream." I opened my eyes and saw that it was Isamu carrying me, as I knew it would be. His smug smile was _not_ something I wanted to see first thing when I woke up. "Well, good morning, Sunshine."

I shook my head, a glare in my eyes and ice in my voice. "_No_," I growled at him, lips pursed. "No one calls me that except Uncle." I tried to get out of his grasp, but he wouldn't let me go.

He laughed but kept a firm hold on me. "Then what do you want me to call you? I don't think that you want me to go around calling you _The Wife_."

Figuring out that I couldn't get down, I gave up and poked him in the chest. "Let's get this straight," I growled at him cold-heartedly, knowing that I was being a bitch and loving every second of it. "This is _not_ going to be personal. You _will_ call me by my name, Captain."

He sighed and held me tighter to his toned chest, which made me blush because I knew that I was wondering how it looked somewhere in the back of my mind.. "Emiko…what am I going to do with you? We're getting married!" He laughed and joyously twirled me around, making me sick.

"Put me down, Captain!" I swore I almost barfed, because that dream had left me a little queasy anyways. Or _was_ it a dream…? No, it couldn't have been!

His look became more serious. "Call me Isamu, Emiko! I don't know what you're going to do when you aren't Emiko Zhao anymore! You're going to be Emiko _Fang_!"

"No!" I yelled, slapping his face to the side.

He became confused as he used one of his hands to hold the side of his face, yet somehow he still held onto me. "I know this is hard for you, but will you really hate getting married?" The look of hurt was in his eyes. I only felt sorry for a moment.

"Yes!" I cried as tears pricked my eyes. I put my hands over my eyes and shook my head. "I don't _love _you!"

_Love? Is that what…?_

He laughed. "You're sixteen! What do you know about love?"

My answer came out a whisper. "…Apparently more than you do."

He sat me down against the wall and put one of his hand next to my head. When he removed my hands, I kept my eyes diverted. Then he picked my chin up and leaned forwards to kiss my lips softly.

But that's all it was. It was just a kiss. It wasn't anything like the sparks I felt with Zuko. When his lips brushed against mine, it didn't make my knees weak like Zuko's would. No sparks flew, and no passion ensued.

He pulled away with a huff of irritation. "This wasn't what I thought my bride would be like," he told me truthfully as he looked up to me through those thick black eyelashes. "I thought she would welcome me with open arms."

"Well," I told him as I wiped my mouth with my hand and stared at the wall behind him, "I'm not your average woman."

He sighed and mopped his forehead with his hand. "No, you aren't…"

Finally I looked at him. "Is there something you wanted to tell me, Isamu, or do you want to leave?"

He shook his head and pulled a black dress out of my dresser. "Your father wants you with him when he takes over the Northern Water Tribe."

I stayed silent.

"After he destroys the Tribe, he wants to marry us in the Water Temple." He put the dress down on my bed, gently smoothing out the wrinkles. "This won't be your bride's dress, of course. He won't settle for less than one with dragon scales sown in, maybe the one used by Princess Hinote oh so long ago when she got married."

Then he slowly walked over to me and trapped me against the wall once more. He put his lips to mine again, this time harder. His arms wrapped around my waist and he pressed his body up against mine. His tongue tried to enter my mouth, but I wouldn't let him and kept my lips stiff and uninviting.

I let him have his moment, and then bit his lip.

"Oww!" he cried out, holding his chin in pain and glaring at me. "What was that for?"

"We aren't married," I reminded him without emotion, trying not to burst into tears. "I don't have to pretend _anything_ just yet." I walked over to the door and opened it while motioning for him to leave. "Tell my father I'll be there in a moment. Please leave."

He scowled but massaged his chin once more before kissing my forehead on the way out.

I got clothed unwillingly in the dress, scowling at the dragons embroidered in gold as I thought. I learned something earlier…something that really wasn't supposed to happen. Actually, it wasn't. Really wasn't. My heart beat faster as I tried to find a reason against it, but there was none.

I had fallen for him.

Never meant to, but I did.

I'd fallen for the banished Prince of the Fire Nation.

_**Moments Later**_

Isamu escorted me to my father when I was done.

My father looked ecstatic when Isamu grabbed my waist and kissed me lightly on the lips again. Though this only made my _father_ happy. How could it make _me_ happy? I was in love with someone else, someone who I would probably never see again. He quickly left, leaving my father and I alone.

Zhao took my hand and admired my dress, pulling me out of my thoughts. "You are looking more like a woman every day…" Were there tears in his eyes? No, there couldn't be. He hated me, and he wanted me out of his life. "I _am_ glad that you have decided to join me, Emiko." His voice was soft and wispy, full of emotion. It was nothing of how I thought it would be.

I nodded and tried to keep on the genuine smile, because now it didn't want to stay. "You're my father. What else am I supposed to do?"

He shook his head and then looked away to the horizon where the sun would be rising any moment. "You remind me so much of your mother…"

"Please, father," I begged almost painfully, turning my face to the ground so that I wouldn't show him my pain. "Don't bring her up today."

He nodded solemnly. "There is no room for weakness today my dear."

It was that moment that the man whom I _thought_ was my father walked out, and into the light. Iroh was now standing next to my biological father. The sun rose over the horizon, lighting the men's faces. When the sun hit me, I took a deep breath and felt the energy rising in me. I could almost see the glow that my skin now took on.

Zhao smiled at this, though it looked rather evil. "It's daybreak at last," he told the three of us on deck. "Let's write history." Zhao's second Fire Navy ship dropped its bowsprit and used it to slice open the Water City's main wall. The bowsprit was then used as a bridge by Fire Nation troops entering the city. I felt a pang, as I knew that my father had something up his sleeve, and somehow I knew that the Water Tribe would fall today. Zhao smiled again. "The Water Tribe can try to resist the inevitable, but their city will fall today."

A line of Fire Navy ships abutted the outer wall, which continued launching fireballs deep into the unoccupied portions of the city. The invaders penetrated the outer wall with infantry and armor. The Water Tribe still held one of the towers in the foreground, but it's clear that the defenders weren't winning.

The Fire Nation soldiers had War Rhinoceroses, each with small catapults on either side of the beast's saddles. One after the other the soldiers on the Rhinos fired their catapults.

The secondary wall still held, a thin moat of water in front of it. The defenders were few, however, and a deadly rain of fireballs spread destruction deep inside the city. Rank upon rank of Fire Nation tanks fired as they advanced toward the secondary wall.

The defenders rallied atop the secondary wall, where a line of Waterbenders returned fire. Right under the top of the wall was a line of portholes through which water poured into the moat below. The Waterbenders motioned in unison and the gentle streams became mighty jets of water. Two tanks were washed away, but several others behind them fired massive grappling hooks into the secondary wall. The hooks penetrated the wall clear through to the other side as the Waterbenders scattered. The tanks with the grappling hooks then began to reel back on the lines. The tanks were anchored in the ice to prevent the tank from just hauling itself to the wall. The wall cracked slowly, and then gave way as more fireballs flew overhead. A huge breach had been opened, revealing War Rhinoceroses and other infantry ready to pour through.

Three more tanks on the left pulled down large sections of the secondary wall. The space in between the primary and secondary walls was brimming with Fire Nation soldiers, tanks and Rhinos. Numerous fireballs landed in the residential section beyond and parts of the city were on fire.

The destruction was sickening to me, and I turned away from it. Now I looked at my father, as he reveled in his soon-to-be victory. I had to remind him of one thing, though, that I wasn't sure he knew. "I need to remind you we have a time limit, father. If we don't finish this battle before the full moon rises, they'll destroy us."

My father smiled evilly, in a way that chilled me to the bone. "I assure you I have everything under control. I intend to remove the moon as a factor."

"Remove the _moon?"_ General Iroh asked, his face incredulous as he too glanced at the horrible destruction of a once-strong nation. "_How_?"

All of a sudden, a man with a dark complexion (which I guessed was a Water Tribe soldier in disguise) entered the balcony. He stopped for a moment, looked at me, smiled flirtingly, and threw off his helmet. "Admiral Choi!" he cried, and I guessed that he meant my father, but he pronounced Zhao's name wrong. "Prepare to meet your fate!"

He rushed forward to Zhao, who casually threw him overboard. The soldier screamed as he fell overboard and hit the water with a splash. I flinched at his scream, wondering how the man had gotten on our boat in the first place.

"As I was saying," my father said as if nothing had just happened, "years ago I stumbled upon a great and powerful secret…the identity of the Moon Spirit."

"_What_?" Uncle and I asked at the same time. This was kind of hitting home for me. My mother was the Sun Spirit, so anything corresponding with the whole 'Spirit World' speculation was something I needed to know. Oh, yeah. Did I not mention that? My mother was the Sun Spirit, and when I died, I would become the Sun Spirit too. My daughter, first or second, depending on what the Spirits decided, would be my successor, like I was to my mother.

I shook my head, taking a deep breath, and listened to my father speak. "I was a young Lieutenant serving under General Shu in the Earth Kingdom. I discovered a hidden library, underground, in fact. I tore through scroll after scroll. One of them contained a detailed illustration and the words 'moon and ocean.' I knew then that these spirits could be found…and killed. And that it was my destiny to do so."

"Zhao, the Spirits are not to be trifled with!" Uncle cried angrily, and I was suddenly very scared of both of them. My father knew that my mother was the Sun Spirit..._didn't he_? Had mother ever spared him that little fact?

"Yes, yes, I know you fear the Spirits, Iroh," my father said dryly, looking at him as if he were nothing but a child. "I've heard rumors about your journey into the Spirit World. But the Ocean and Moon gave up their immortality to become a part of our world and now they will face the consequences!"

At those words, my entire body wracked in a sob. "You're saying that's why mother faced the consequences?"

He was silent for a moment, and he wouldn't look me in the eyes. His jaw was clenched and he wasn't moving, either. "Like I told you, there is no room for weakness today."

I was hurt, not only by his words, but by the way he was acting.. "You think my mother was a_ weakness?_" He didn't answer, and I had to take many deep breaths to keep from crying tears of anger, sadness, and hurt. Slowly, as we all stood there in silence, day turned to night and the Waterbenders slowly gained control.

My father took out a map, destroying the silent moment. "We'll be following this map to a very special location. And when we get there," he said with a cruel smile spreading on his face, "we're going _fishing_."

_**Later...**_

Iroh and I had stayed behind, not trusting ourselves enough around Zhao to not reveal anything about Zuko's presence, or not to strangle him. Well, maybe the second one was more for me and _not_ Iroh, but still.

It wasn't too long until I started feeling slightly..._strange_. "Uncle," I called, my heartbeat going faster, my breath coming in heaves. "U-UNCLE!"

He came running onto the deck, his eyes wide as he looked at me, and at the sky. I thought that the red glow coming about me was from the strange feeling, that I would black out again, but as I looked up, I saw that the moon was covered in a strange red glow. I knew that my father had something to do with this.

"We need to go," Iroh said through gritted teeth, grabbing my arm with more force than necessary. "_NOW_!"

I nodded, feeling dizzy from all of the power flowing through me. I ran faster than I ever had in my life, Iroh running pretty fast for a man his size. I had to remember, though, that he was in the military, and he'd been trained all his life for things like this. I hadn't, though, and it felt as if I were flying across the ice. The water didn't seem to like to be around me, and it acted as if it were shirking away.

We ran until we reached a small door, and Iroh blasted it open with fire so strong that even I felt the heat. I held up my hands, only to notice that my hands were _glowing_. As if there were a light under my skin that was dimming.

Iroh grabbed my arm and pulled me through the door, which held a room so beautiful that it took my breath away. Grass was growing, and it was warm. There was a small pond and a few trees. What really caught my attention, though, was my father, holding up a bag, screaming something to the heavens. ""I am a legend now!" he yelled. "The Fire Nation will for generations tell stories about the great Zhao who darkened the moon! They will call me Zhao the Conqueror! Zhao the Moon Slayer! ZHAO THE INVINCIBLE!"

At that moment, some small animal jumped onto his head and started pulling at his face while chattering. Even I had to wonder what the heck it was, until Aang, the Avatar, ran in behind us. The little animal jumped off of my father, then flew to land on Aang's arm. My father looked furious, and his look at me was along the same line. "Don't bother!" he told them, holding a sword to the bag that the Moon Spirit was in.

Aang dropped his staff and raised his hands in surrender. Myself, I was horrified. "Zhao! Don't."

"It's my destiny to destroy the Moon and the Water Tribe," Zhao told them.

"Destroying the moon won't just hurt the Water Tribe. It will hurt everyone, including you. Without the moon, everything would fall out of balance. You have no idea what kind of chaos that would unleash on the world!"

Uncle ran up from the side, and he still wasn't breathing hard from running all that way. "He is right, Zhao!"

I was one step behind him, and I should have been breathing hard but I wasn't, either. "Daddy, don't do it, please!" He looked at me with anger again, his eyes wide and insane, his nostrils flaring. Apparently he wasn't my father anymore.

"General Iroh…" Zhao said in a bored, lecturing tone, suddenly himself once more. "Why am I not surprised to discover your treachery? I expect this from _Emiko, _but you?"

Uncle lowered his hood. "I'm no traitor, Zhao. The Fire Nation needs the moon too. We all depend on the balance." I tried to move closer, but Iroh put his arm up. "You cannot go any closer, Emiko."

My father smiled. "Yes, Emiko. If you come any closer, you could die. You would kill two spirits with you."

I put my head down and moved back close to Aang's group, but felt slightly faint. A girl near me, one with bright white hair, fell to her knees.

"Ooh…" Zhao said with a taunting tone. "This is interesting. It seems that my youngest daughter is not the only one who has been touched by a spirit."

I looked up at him. "Were you not the one who said that today wasn't a day for weakness?" I yelled with all of my strength. "Do not bring my mother into this!"

He flinched, but kept a calm face. "Your mother was a wonderful woman."

Iroh, in a state that I had never seen him, pointed to Zhao and thundered, "Whatever you do to that spirit, I'll unleash on you ten-fold!" He moved into a Firebending stance. "LET IT GO, NOW!" Iroh and Zhao locked eyes for a moment, but then Zhao faltered and lowered the bag. He knelt and released the fish back into the water. The red light of the moon vanished, replaced by its normal color.

Zhao's face was quickly overtaken by a look of madness and desperation. With a cry of rage, he stood and hit the water with a blast of fire. Uncle recoiled, about the same time that I fell to the ground, feeling my heart about to burst out of my chest. I rolled over onto my back, to see the moon wink out of existence, leaving nothing but darkness in the midnight sky.

Iroh sprang instantly to the attack, though I couldn't see what was happening. I managed to turn my head, wondering if my heart would beat out of my chest, and saw that almost all of Zhao's guards were laid out on the ground. My father looked on in horror as his men were wiped out by the aging General with such ease and precision. He fled.

Uncle stood over the guards who struggled to get up. In the pond, the black fish swam frantically and the white one had a huge gash in its side and floated. Iroh gently lifted the white fish from the water with an expression of sadness on his face. The guards were gone. These moments happened as if they were pictures, and my eyesight was blinking with a strange, white light.

I knew that I had to stand up, and I tried. It took a while, to say the least. The boy...Sokka, I thought his name was...came over and helped me up, throwing one arm over his shoulder and slowly coaxing me along. He seemed to want to get to the weak white-haired girl, though, and only picke dme up as an afterthought.

The girl, whom I was careful to stay a distance away from, was on the verge of tears. Sokka let me go and rushed to comfort her. "There's no hope now…" she sobbed. "It's over."

Aang's sad expression turned to determination and I was hit by another pang of something went through me, and I fell against Iroh as his eyes and tattoos glowed white. His Avatar Spirit spoke through his mouth. "No," he said with a deep and otherworldly voice. "It's not over." He walked forward into the pond. Katara moved to follow, but a motion to halt from Iroh and a very weak me stilled her. Uncle told me very softly but firmly to quickly back away. I did as he asked.

Aang stood in the middle of the pond, arms in prayer. He looked down at the black fish, whose eyes and white mark on its spine began to glow white. His feet in the pond glowed a bright white. He dropped into the pond as if the bottom had fallen out of it and he disappeared.

All of a sudden, I fell to the ground. It felt as all of the bones in my body had either disappeared or gone numb, and I gasped for air. Iroh glanced at me with a sad expression, but with determination, and watched. Luckily, my head was turned towards the pool, and I watched in awe. The water in the pool around the oasis itself began to glow a deep blue veined with white. The effect spread. It must have kept going, but I wouldn't know. Appa stood on the oasis, but the creature that rose from the pool dwarfed him.

The blue, white veined creature was a huge fish like being. At its center was a blue white bubble in which I could see Aang, who spread his arms wide. A moment later, the Ocean Spirit, for he was truly in communion with the Avatar, duplicated the motion. The Ocean Spirit towered over us, it's arms still spread wide, it's blue spirit lighting the city like a beacon. The Spirit began to move down into the city.

And that was when I started to cry.

_**Zuko**_

Zhao ran over a footbridge somewhere in the city. Zuko didn't know where, all he knew was that he wanted this man dead. Dead or horribly punished, and he would rather have the first one. Zhao exited onto a parapet and was almost hit by a blast of fire that hit the wall in front of him. As the smoke cleared, Zhao looked up to see Zuko on the wall on the tier up above him.

"You're alive?" Zhao asked incredulously, his face uncommonly pale, his wide and panicked.

"You tried to have me killed!" Zuko yelled as he launched a few fire blasts at Zhao with a cry of anguish. His target dodged, rolling along the parapet wall. All he could think of was the last few moments he'd had with Emiko, _with this man's daughter_, and he knew that Emiko would forever hate this man.

"Yes I did!" he called with venom in his voice. His face was taking on the look of someone who had been in captivity for too long, crazed, _insane._ "You're the Blue Spirit and enemy of the Fire Nation!" The unspoken words: _What did you do to my daughter? _"You freed the Avatar!"

"I had no choice!" Zuko countered, and the image of Emiko that night, standing net to Zhao, suddenly struck him. How had he not noticed? How had he not—he had to defend himself. He continued his attack with firing volley after volley at Zhao, who broke them with his hands held together in a wedge in front of him.

As the blasts subsided, Zhao dropped his smoking cloak to the ground. "You should have chosen to accept your failure—your disgrace! Then, at least you could have lived!" Zhao said menacingly, straitening, returning fire.

They traded volleys as the raged back and forth in the darkness. At one point Zuko was able to exploit a moment when Zhao left his chest unguarded. Zuko blasted him and Zhao fell off the parapet wall onto the tier below. Out of his pocket came a red betrothal necklace that skidded across the ice.

_**Emiko**_

Iroh placed the dead Moon Spirit fish back into the pond. Everyone, even an almost unconscious me, looked at it in concern. I knew that it was gone. But what was to happen to the moon? Without it, there were no tides or the cycle of rain; _there were no Waterbenders._

Katara shook her head in agony, and I felt her pain. All of the sadness, all of the pain from the loss was coming to me, and I wanted to cry as well, cry even more for a vague image that I saw in my mind's eye. I felt like I knew this fist—whom had once been human—and I wanted to cry my heart out. "It's too late…it's dead."

Suddenly, Iroh looked up at Yue in wonder. "Zhao was right… Emiko isn't the only one who was touched by a spirit. You have been touched by the Moon Spirit! Some of its life is in you!" We all looked to her, and I noticed that I now had the power to sit up, but the agony inside of me raged on.

She looked up, her ice blue eyes vaguely familiar. "Yes, you're right. It gave me life…maybe I can give it back." She got up with determination and walked to the pond's edge.

"No!" Sokka cried, reaching for her. The look in his eyes was horrified, as if he had already lost her. And somehow I knew that he _would_ lose her, because if she gave back its life...then she would lose hers.

She held his hand behind her and looked down, into the water, and I knew that she was looking at her own stoic reflection. "It's my duty, Sokka."

"I won't let you!" he cried frantically, his eyes filling with tears. I almost didn't want to watch this lover's exchange, but I really couldn't move. "Your father told me to protect you!" His other words: _I love you. _Something that I wished that I could have said a while back.

She looked up into his eyes with determination. I'd never seen someone mature in so short of a time. "I have to do this." She released the Water Tribe warrior's hand and walked to Iroh, who held the dead fish in his hands.

I knew that if I stayed any longer, that I wouldn't have consciousness for much longer. Somewhere inside I pulled forth energy that I didn't know I had, and I pulled myself to my knees, then my feet, and I started running. Running, as fast as I could. Behind me, I heard the despaired cry of Sokka, and my heart beat slower once more.

_**The Battle**_

The Fire Navy ships tried desperately to flee. Their bowsprits rose quickly as the ships backed out. The incandescent blue of the Ocean Spirit flowed out past the city wall in front of the Fire Navy fleet. The Ocean Spirit reformed and, towering over the fleet, reached out. He pushed two ships back out to see at amazing speed. Aang (still inside the bubble) made a slicing motion, making a razor cut through the bridge tower of Zhao's flagship. The cut section slid down to the foredeck and the ship's forward trebuchet became wrecked. The Spirit raised its arms, forming a huge wave which upended many vessels and pushed the rest far out to sea.

The Ocean Spirit stood at the city walls. It looks up to see the moon alive once again. Instantly, Aang began to wilt inside the creature, which dissipates into the ocean. The Spirit's essence flowed back to the wall and deposited Aang atop it. There the glowing left him as he put his hand to the side of his head, spent with the effort.

_**Zuko**_

Before Zuko and Zhao continued to battle on the footbridge over a canal, Zuko noticed the small necklace lying on the floor and knew that he had to pick it up. He quickly stuck it in his pocket as Zhao got up, and he knew that he had lost his chance to end Zhao, but it had been worth it, because he now had something to remember Emiko by. They traded blows, but a series of direct hits from Zuko laid the Admiral flat.

As Zhao tried to get up, he saw the moon over Zuko's shoulder. "It can't be!" he cried in horror, his face going back into that insane look, the manic one.

Something advanced through the waters, straight towards them. Zuko backed up, wondering what the strangle, bright thing was that suddenly grabbed Zhao and began to pull him off the bridge.

Zhao struggled and Zuko reached out for him. "Take my hand!" Zuko cried, knowing that he would hate himself for this later, but he had to do it anyways. He knew that Emiko would never forgive him. Maybe that was the reason he knew that he could only hurt Zhao, not kill him.

It was that moment that Emiko ran up, her hair in disarray, her cheeks flushed and her chest heaving. She noticed her father, hanging on for dear life, and ran up. "Daddy," she gasped, leaning over the wall of the bridge, "Daddy, take his hand!"

Zuko didn't know how Emiko could call that monster her father anymore, but he could hear the panic in her voice. Zhao had just about grasped his hand, at least until he'd heard Emiko's voice. He looked her directly in the eyes, and then pulled his arm back, the look of pride upon his face. The Ocean Spirit dragged Zhao under the water and disappeared.

"Father?" she asked softly, as if she were almost in a daze. _"Dad?"_ She ran over to the side of the bridge and tried to climb over the railing, but Zuko grasped her arms and held her back. "Dad!" she cried in agony, trying to get away from him but failing. He held her close to his chest, pressing her face there before she broke down and cried, _"DADDY!"_

He held her there, knowing her pain, holding her close, not saying a word. The last words she uttered before falling asleep were, "I love you."

* * *

**I have nothing to say. "Epilogue" next, yes?**

The man looked up into the sky with a pained look on his face, and then closed his eyes as Emiko rolled over into his arms.


	21. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Among all of the sunken ships, a small raft sailed. Iroh, Zuko, and Emiko were riding on it.

"I'm surprised, Prince Zuko," Uncle said softly, staring at the changed man in front of him. "Surprised that you are not at this moment trying to capture the Avatar."

"I'm tired…" Zuko mumbled, lying down next to a sleeping Emiko

Uncle put his hand on his nephew's shoulder. "Then you should rest. A man needs his rest."

Iroh stood when Zuko rolled over. The man looked up into the sky with a pained look on his face, and then closed his eyes as Emiko rolled over into his arms.

_**The Fire Nation**_

It was a temple-like chamber that the girl knelt in, with a throne on a dais, wreathed in fire. Some sort of huge, ornately carved red statue occupied the back wall. On the floor was a map of the Earth Kingdom continent, but that wasn't what she was there for. All around her were ornate pillars. Though she didn't feel constricted, forced to be here. She was comfortable in her place.

She knelt in front of the Fire Lord. He was sitting on the throne, the fire having blocked him. She situated her armor and made sure her hair was perfect before she looked up to him

His voice was deep yet smooth, commanding and forceful. "Iroh is a traitor, and your brother Zuko is a failure. They are traveling with a woman who holds a secret so powerful that she could destroy the Fire Nation…"

His gaze was steady, his topaz eyes full of some kind of fury.

"I have a task for you."

She let loose an evil, cat-like grin.

* * *

**I'm excited, and at the same time sad, to finish Part I of this story. Like...you have no idea. I spent a LONG time writing this at first, and all it was was HORRIBLE with a capital 'H.' Now, I think it is less horrible, or at least I hope it is. I want to thank all of my wonderful reviewers and watchers, and all of you who made it to the end, for reading this old piece of crap. Part II, "Revelations of the Daughter of the Sun" is now up!**

**P.S.**

**...It upsets me that there is no excerpt from the next chapter.**

**P.P.S.**

**You have read over 100,000 words!**


	22. Revelations

**Hey, all! Just wanted to say that **_**"Revelations of the Daughter of the Sun" **_**is up and ready for all of you to read! It's a continuation of this story, and it's probably my favorite of all three parts. Just because you'll see(:**

**So, thanks for reading this, and I love all of you who have stayed with me to the end! **


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